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StephCast T 10-25-22

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Biden delivers midterms pep talk: ‘If we get people out to vote, we win’

President Joe Biden visited the Democratic Party’s Washington headquarters Monday to deliver a pep talk to volunteers just 15 days until the midterms end.

“If we get people out to vote, we win,” Biden said as he walked among the volunteers at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters. “We get people out to vote, we win and you’re getting them out to vote.”

Biden told the volunteers, as well as staffers and grassroots donors, that “the power is in your hands” to “get out the vote.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

2022 ELECTION Crist to DeSantis: Will you run for president? Florida governor refuses to say in caustic debate

Democrat Charlie Crist came to his first and only debate with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ready with just one question about his opponent’s political aspirations Monday night.

“You’re running for governor,” Crist said, looking at DeSantis as the governor looked forward. “Why don’t you look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida and say to them if you’re re-elected, you will serve a full four-year term as governor. Yes or no?”

DeSantis said nothing as four seconds ticked by and the debate hall started to fall quiet.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Justice Clarence Thomas temporarily blocks Lindsey Graham’s testimony in Georgia election interference probe

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, tells reporters that he will push for a vote in Congress to kick the Palestinian Liberation Organization out of its Washington offices and threaten to withhold U.S. financial assistance if the Palestinians seek to use enhanced U.N. status against Israel, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday temporarily put on hold a requirement that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., testify in a Georgia prosecutor’s probe of allegations of interference in the 2020 election by former President Donald Trump and his allies.

The decision by Thomas, who handles emergency requests that arise from Georgia, freezes the litigation while the justices weigh Graham’s plea that the Supreme Court quash the subpoena. Thomas had asked lawyers for the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office to respond to Graham’s request by close of business Thursday. Thomas can handle the application by himself, although generally such issues get referred to the full nine-justice court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Charlie Pierce: The GOP Assault on the Vote Is About to Come to a Boil

Charlie Pierce Esquire
Charlie Pierce Esquire

It’s all coming together in Arizona, and the Supreme Court should be so very proud. Its Heller and New York State Rifle & Pistol Association are fitting so neatly in tandem with its rulings in Shelby County and Brnovich, as the personal right to bear arms dovetails with the increased constitutionality of voter suppression—twin sons from different motherfckers.

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics.

StephCast M 10-24-22

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Jury selection to begin in Trump Organization fraud trial

Golden Gavel Court
Golden Gavel Court

Jury selection is set to begin Monday in the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump’snamesake family real-estate business, which was charged last year by prosecutors in Manhattan with orchestrating a years-long scheme to evade taxes.

The Trump Organization compensated certain executives with off-the-book perks — including rent, utilities and garage expenses at a luxury apartment building, private school tuition, and leases for luxury cars — that were never accounted for on the company’s payroll taxes, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Student debt relief ‘moving full speed ahead’ despite GOP-led lawsuits, education secretary says

Graduation Cap College High School
Graduation Cap College High School

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said the Biden administration is “moving full speed ahead” preparing to implement its federal student debt forgiveness program, a day after a federal appeals courthit pause on the administration’s efforts.

Cardona said in a video posted Saturday that the administration is “not deterred” by lawsuits that seek to block its relief program.

In an op-ed published Saturday in USA Today, Cardona said the Education Department is “moving full speed ahead with preparations for the lawful implementation” of the program.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Jan. 6 panel will not rule out taking live testimony from Trump, Cheney says

Liz Cheney
Liz Cheney

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Sunday did not rule out the possibility of the House Jan. 6 committee’s taking live televised testimony from former President Donald Trump.

Trump has not publicly indicated how he would respond to the subpoena the committee issued Friday for his testimony and documents.

Asked whether the committee is open to live testimony in an interview on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Cheney, its vice chair, said: “He’s not going to turn this into a circus.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

The Rude Pundit: The Questions Republican Candidates Aren’t Being Asked Enough (or At All)

We know that if Republicans win back even one house of Congress, the whole place will become a nightmare of masturbating clowns, all cackling wildly as they rub and tug their greasepainted genitals to a screaming spurt and then declare they’re ride-or-die Americans just engaged in old-fashioned horseplay to own the libs. Unfortunately, not enough attention has been paid to just how fucking insane that is. The typical Democrat will say, “Republicans will take away your abortion rights and destroy democracy.” What they need to add is “and they’re scary clowns jacking off on the Constitution.” 

I don’t think that most Americans really understand that part. Sure, we here on the musky Twitter machine have that awareness, but we are not most Americans. While the moderators of the debates I’ve seen or read about do ask if the Republican accepts that Joe Biden won the 2020 election or if the Republican will accept the results of the 2022 election, voters need to know what they’re getting with the GOP candidates. Because, see, it sure as shit seems as if a lot of voters think that when they vote for Republicans this cycle, they’re trading already tenuous abortion rights for cheaper milk and safer streets. They don’t realize that what they’re really getting is a pack of crazed clowns who will spooge on them after they murder them.

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

SMHH VideoCast with Joel Stein & Michael Cohen 10-21-22

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StephCast F 10-21-22

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You Can Still Watch Stephanie Miller’s Sexy Liberal “Save Democracy” Tour on Pay-Per-View!!

The Sexy Liberals and special guests Rob Reiner and Glenn Kirschner were LIVE at Los Angeles’ historic Saban Theater for the last performance of the year! And you can still watch it streaming Live on Pay Per View as many times as you want until the end of the year! This is not hyperbole; sluggish from a raging pandemic, staring down the Big Lie(s), a violent January 6 th attack on the home of democracy, and now, and now..the reversal of Roe..we have been battered and bruised, but Sexy Liberals everywhere are standing up with Stephanie Miller and all her Sexy Liberals to Save Democracy.  Pay-Per-View is just $20 for unlimited viewings until the end of the year!

Tickets and Pay-Per-View (good for unlimited viewings until 12/31/22) available here

What to know about Friday’s sentencing of Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress

Steve Bannon
Steve bannon

Steve Bannon, the ex-adviser to former President Donald Trump, will be sentenced on Friday for his criminal contempt of Congress after defying of a subpoena from the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

The sentencing will unfold in a federal courtroom in Washington, DC. Judge Carl Nichols – a Trump appointee – will hand down the penalty in proceedings that will begin at 9 a.m. ET.

The sentencing is a milestone moment in the Justice Department’s response to January 6, as prosecutors say that by “flouting” the committee’s subpoena, Bannon “exacerbated” the assault on the rule of law that the US Capitol attack amounted to. It may also bolster the leverage lawmakers have in securing cooperation of witnesses resistant to participating in congressional investigations.

Read the rest of the story at CNN

Justice Amy Coney Barrett denies attempt to block Biden student loan forgiveness plan from taking effect

Supreme Court SCOTUS
Supreme Court SCOTUS

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected a challenge to the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program on Thursday, declining to take up an appeal brought by a Wisconsin taxpayers group.

The order is a win for President Joe Biden for now, though there are other challenges in the pipeline making their way up to the high court.

Student loan cancellations, worth up to $20,000 per eligible borrower, could begin on Sunday.

Read the rest of the story at CNN

Appeals court orders Sen. Lindsey Graham to testify in Georgia election probe

A federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., must testify before a Georgia grand jury examining possible election interference in the state two years ago.

The ruling is a win for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and comes the same day NBC News confirmed that Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone testified before the grand jury. Cipollone’s appearance was first reported by CNN.

Graham has fought tooth-and-nail to avoid testifying. He filed suit in federal court seeking to quash a subpoena seeking details about phone calls he made to top election officials in Georgia amid complaints from then-President Donald Trump that there had been widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 10-20-22

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Biden announces sale of 15 million barrels of reserve oil

oil well refinery
oil well refinery

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he would authorize the sale of more oil from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve as his administration scrambles to rein in high gas prices before the midterm elections.

Speaking at the White House, Biden said the Energy Department would sell the remaining 15 million barrels of the 180 million barrels that were authorized for sale in March — a move that he argued would help drive down the price of gas and give families a bit of “breathing room.”

“I have been doing everything in my power to reduce gas prices since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused these prices to spike and rattled international oil markets,” Biden said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Omicron subvariants reflect a ‘viral evolution on steroids’

covid coronavirus
covid coronavirus

An omicron subvariant is once again demonstrating immune-dodging abilities, posing a threat to both vaccinated and previously infected individuals.

A report published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that the subvariant, called BA.4.6, could drive reinfections.

As of Friday, BA.4.6 accounted for just over 12% of new Covid casesin the U.S. BA.5, meanwhile, has been detected in nearly 68% of new cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Oath Keeper testifies he was ready to die on Jan. 6 to keep Trump in office

capitol riot insurrection
capitol riot insurrection

A member of the far-right Oath Keepers who stormed the U.S. Capitol testified that he was ready to fight to keep President Donald Trump in office and was preparing himself in the weeks before Jan. 6, 2021, to say goodbye to his family, he testified in a seditious conspiracy trial Tuesday.

Jason Dolan, 46, a military veteran, pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy and a count of obstruction of an official proceeding in September and testified in the trial of five other members of the extremist group under a cooperation agreement with the government.

Other cooperating defendants are also expected to testify in the trial. Dolan has not pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy; three other Oath Keepers have.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump signed legal documents that he knew included false voter fraud numbers, judge says

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

Former president Donald Trump and his political allies understood that their allegations of widespread voter fraud in Georgia were baseless but continued to push the unfounded claims in courts and the public, according to recent federal court filings.

The revelations came in an 18-page opinion Wednesday over Trump ally and conservative lawyer John Eastman’s resistance to a subpoena for emails from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter found that several documents between Trump’s allies must be made public, as they showed that the group participated in a “knowing misrepresentation of voter fraud numbers in Georgia when seeking to overturn the election results in federal court.”

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post

StephCast W 10-19-22

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Trump Special Master Says He Has ‘No Patience’ for Records Spats

Trump Classified Documents
Trump Classified Documents

The special master reviewing documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate warned the former president’s lawyers that their initial efforts to claim certain records were personal and not presidential might be lacking enough detail.

“Where’s the beef? I need some beef,” US District Senior Judge Raymond Dearie told the attorneys during a telephone status hearing Tuesday.

Dearie also suggested there was a “certain incongruity” to Trump’s lawyers claiming so far that at least one document was both personal to Trump and covered by executive privilege, a protection that applies to government information.

Read the rest of the story at Bloomberg

Former Oath Keeper Says Militia Planned to Use ‘Any Means Necessary’ on Jan. 6

capitol riot insurrection
capitol riot insurrection

A former member of the Oath Keepers militia testified on Tuesday that the far-right group intended to block the certification of the 2020 election “by any means necessary,” stashing weapons in a hotel in Virginia on Jan. 6, 2021, in anticipation of supporting President Donald J. Trump in his bid to keep Joseph R. Biden Jr. out of the White House.

The former Oath Keeper, Jason Dolan, gave his account at the seditious conspiracy trial of the organization’s leader, Stewart Rhodes, telling the jury that the group envisioned a battle breaking out in Washington that day between factions loyal to Mr. Trump and others loyal to Mr. Biden.

“My thinking was you would have portions of federal government that would side with President Trump and parts that would side with President Biden,” Mr. Dolan said.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Police Videos Show Shock and Fear as DeSantis Begins Arrests For Alleged Voter Fraud: ‘I Voted But I Didn’t Commit No Fraud’

The Tampa Bay Times published video of several Floridians being arrested for voter fraud as part of Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s new Office of Election Crimes and Security crackdown.

The arrests of 20 people took place on August 18th, hours before DeSantis called a press conference to boast of the crackdown, declaring, “They’re going to pay the price.”

“Our new election crimes office has sprung into action to hold individuals accountable for voter fraud. Today’s actions send a clear signal to those who are thinking about ballot harvesting or fraudulently voting. If you commit an elections crime, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said DeSantis during the press conference, making clear the office’s work will continue.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Biden vows to push abortion rights bill if Democrats keep control of Congress

Biden speech flag
Biden speech flag

President Joe Biden pledged Tuesday to push for an abortion rightsbill if Democrats keep control of Congress in the November midterm elections.

Speaking at a Democratic National Committee event in Washington, Biden said that if Democrats both hold the House and add seats to their Senate majority, he would offer make a bill to codify abortion rights his first priority. He said that if it passed, he would aim to sign it into law by the 50th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in January.

“If you care about the right to choose, then you got to vote. That’s why these midterm elections are so critical — elect more Democratic senators to the United States Senate and more Democrats to keep control of the House of Representatives,” he said.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast T 10-18-22

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Debating once again, Kemp and Abrams paint drastically different pictures of Georgia

georgia

Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams faced off on Monday, laying out drastically different views of the state ahead of their rematch at the polls.

The debate, hosted by the Atlanta Press Club, allowed both candidates to detail their platforms, which focused on the state’s economy, crime and voting rights.

Kemp spent most of the night touting his accomplishments via the legislature and struck a tone of positivity after what he called a first term of positive work.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Tim Ryan and J.D. Vance attack each other over ‘great replacement’ theory in final Ohio Senate debate

Ohio Flag
Ohio Flag

The already hostile Senate race in Ohioturned even nastier Monday as Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan and Republican J.D. Vance clashed over racist rhetoric and lobbed personal insults.

At their final debate before the Nov. 8 election, tensions ran highest toward the end of their hour onstage, when one of the moderators asked the candidates about the “great replacement” theory.

The conspiracy theory, which has found a home on the far-right fringes, broadly states that a Jewish-led cabal of liberals is trying to take power by replacing white voters with nonwhites by any means necessary, including immigration and interracial marriage.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Biden administration officially opens application for student debt cancellation

Graduation Cap College High School
Graduation Cap College High School

President Joe Biden announced Monday that the online application to cancel federal student debt is available.

The form — which can be found at StudentAid.gov — is available in English and Spanish, and it is accessible on both mobile and desktop devices. The form asks for people’s dates of birth, Social Security numbers and contact information. Applicants do not have to upload any documents.

In a speech at the White House, Biden said it takes less than five minutes to fill out the form. “It’s easy, simple and fast. And it’s a new day for millions of Americans all across our nation,” he said.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump Organization charged Secret Service as much as $1,185 per night to stay at Trump properties

dollars money bills
dollars money bills

During Donald Trump’s presidency, Trump hotels charged the Secret Service as much as $1,185 per night, more than five times the recommended government rate, and the high rates continued after he left office, according to an investigation released Monday by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

Beginning in January 2017 through Sept. 15, 2021, the Secret Service received at least 40 waivers to let it spend more than the recommended per diem rates to stay at Trump properties to protect Trump as a president and former president, and also to protect those around him, the investigation found.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Charlie Pierce: America Has a Long History of Fumbling Its Democracy

I shouldn’t be dreading Election Day the way I am. Or at least not for the reasons for which I’m dreading it. I have dreaded Election Days before, but I dreaded them because I dreaded the outcome—the traditional American reason for dreading Election Days. And for the most part, the Election Days I dreaded for that reason were elections worth dreading: Nixon (twice), Reagan (twice), George W. (once, the second term; I didn’t know enough about him in 2000). And Lord knows both 2016 and 2020 filled my brain with snakes and dragons. 
 

But as we approach this Election Day, I’m dreading it for an entirely new reason. A reason I thought we’d left behind with Tammany Hall in the North and with the Klan in the South. I’m dreading the actual act of voting, all over the country.

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics

StephCast M 10-17-22

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StephCast M 10-17-22

This content is for Monthly Audio, Monthly Audio + Happy Hour Video, Yearly Audio, Yearly Audio + Happy Hour Video, and Give the Stephanie Miller Podcast! members only.
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U.S. Asks Court to End Special Master Review of Files Seized From Trump

The Justice Department asked an appeals court on Friday to end a special master review of thousands of documents that the F.B.I. seized from former President Donald J. Trump’s Florida estate, arguing that a federal judge had been wrong to intervene in its investigation into Mr. Trump’s hoarding of sensitive government records.

In a 53-page brief for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, the Justice Department broadly challenged the legal legitimacy of orders last month by Judge Aileen M. Cannon, who blocked investigators from using the materials and appointed an independent arbiter to sift them for any that are potentially privileged or Mr. Trump’s personal property.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Herschel Walker defends use of ‘honorary’ sheriff’s badge in Georgia Senate debate

Herschel Walker Badge
Herschel Walker Badge

Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker defended pulling out a sheriff’s badge during Friday’s closely watched debate in Georgia, telling NBC in an interview that aired on Sunday it was “a legit,” but honorary badge from his hometown sheriff’s department.

Walker had pulled out the badge during a discussion over support for police – in a move that was admonished by the debate moderators and led to widespread mockery from Democrats.

“This is from my hometown. This is from Johnson County from the sheriff from Johnson County, which is a legit badge,” Walker told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a clip from the interview.

Read the rest of the story at CNN

Russia hits Kyiv with new ‘kamikaze’ drone attack

Israel Gaza Palestine Missiles War
Israel Gaza Palestine Missiles War

Russia blasted the Ukrainian capital with a wave of “kamikaze” drones Monday in a renewed attack just a week after unleashing a deadly barrage against civilian and infrastructure targets across the country.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said “kamikaze” drones caused four explosions that rocked the city’s central Shevchenkivskyi District in the early morning hours.

Klitschko initially said the drone attack caused a fire in a nonresidential building, but he later said a residential building in the district was also hit, with 18 people rescued from it.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump attacks American Jews, says they must ‘get their act together’ on Israel ‘before it’s too late’

Former President Donald Trump attacked Jews in the U.S. on his Truth Social platform Sunday, writing that they need to “get their act together” and “appreciate” Israel “before it is too late.”

“No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.,” Trump wrote.

“Those living in Israel, though, are a different story — Highest approval rating in the World, could easily be P.M.!” he continued.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

The Rude Pundit: The Patriotic Case for Jailing Donald Trump

The Rude Pundit
The Rude Pundit

Thursday’s hearing by the January 6 Committee was clarifying in the way that a great closing argument at a trial can be, pulling together threads that had previously come up and demonstrating how someone is guilty of the crime or crimes they’ve been accused of. What is so absolutely glisteningly clear is that Donald Trump, while President of the United States (a thing that really did happen), tried to overturn a legitimate election he had lost. What’s more, he knew that he had lost the election and he knew that the election had been legitimate. What’s more, he knew ahead of time how the voting was going to go for the election, that mail-in ballots, the number of which surged because voters were encouraged to vote by mail during the pandemic, would be counted later and break towards Biden. Because he knew this, he planned, with others, in advance to say he had won, even if he had lost, and then to fight it out to the bitter end, making everything that came after premeditated.

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

SMHH VideoCast with Tristan Snell & Judy Gold 10-14-22

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StephCast F 10-14-22

This content is for Monthly Audio, Monthly Audio + Happy Hour Video, Yearly Audio, Yearly Audio + Happy Hour Video, and Give the Stephanie Miller Podcast! members only.
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Jan. 6 Committee Votes to Subpoena Trump – ‘He’s Required to Answer for His Actions’

The Jan. 6 House select committee investigating the 2021 Capitol insurrection voted to subpoena former President Donald Trump during its final public hearing on Thursday.

Near the end of the hearing, Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) stated the committee had clearly demonstrated Trump tried to overthrow American democracy when he incited an angry mob to storm the Capitol. Trump had spent more than two months falsely telling his supporters the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

Read there rest of the story at Mediaite

Parkland school shooter avoids the death penalty after jury recommends life in prison without parole

gavel courtroom trial
gavel courtroom trial

A jury on Thursday spared Parkland, Florida, school shooter Nikolas Cruz from the death penalty, recommending that he be sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2018 Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 14 students and three staff members dead.

The 12-person jury’s recommendation was read in a packed courtroom before visibly distraught family members and the shooter, who remained blank-faced throughout.

The jury reached its decision after more than a day of deliberations, nearly capping the exhaustive trial that saw jurors review graphic videos and photos from the shooting, tour the high school left practically untouched since the massacre, and hear emotional testimonies of victims’ family members. 

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request in dispute over Mar-a-Lago documents

Supreme Court SCOTUS
Supreme Court SCOTUS

The Supreme Court handed former President Donald Trump a loss Thursday in his dispute with the Justice Department over documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago residence, rejecting his request that a special master be allowed to review classified papers.

The justices denied Trump’s relatively narrow emergency request in a brief unsigned order. No dissents were noted.

The decision does not affect the Justice Department’s access to the same documents as part of a criminal investigation. The more than 100 documents marked as classified are just a small part of the 11,000 records federal agents seized in August amid concerns that Trump had unlawfully retained official White House records after he left office.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Jarring new video, evidence Trump knew he lost: Key takeaways from the latest Jan. 6 hearing

Capitol Washington Inauguration
Capitol Washington Inauguration

While President Donald Trump was refusing to call off the mob of his supporters attacking the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and other congressional leaders leaped into action to try to retake control of the sprawling complex.

They called the secretary of defense and the acting attorney general and urged them to send help. They called the governors of neighboring Virginia and Maryland to send National Guard troops and other police. And they got on the phone with Vice President Mike Pence to figure out how they could return to the Capitol that same night and finish certifying Joe Biden’s election victory.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 10-13-22

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Charlie Pierce: Sen. Ed Markey Keeps Pushing the Feds to Show a Little Spine on DeSantis’ Evil Stunt

Charlie Pierce Esquire
Charlie Pierce Esquire

Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts always has been a workhorse in the Senate. As a congressman, he was out ahead of most of the rest of his colleagues on the climate crisis, even back when it was “the greenhouse effect.” He also saw the revolution coming in computer science and the internet. His prescience on issues like these is how he won the support of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and others in what might have been a tough primary battle against young Rep. Joseph Kennedy.

On Wednesday, Markey—who obviously counts the good people of Martha’s Vineyard among his constituents—along with several other members of the Massachusetts delegation, got the inspector general’s office of the Department of the Treasury to look into whether or not Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis played fast and loose with federal COVID relief funds to finance his little airplane stunt.

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics

Ex-Oath Keeper says ‘many weapons’ were stored outside capital during Jan. 6 attack

Guns Bullets Shooting
Gun Bullet Shooting

A former member of the Oath Keepers militia group testified Wednesday about the large stash of weapons stored by the group at a hotel just outside Washington, D.C., during the Jan. 6, 2001, assault on the Capitol, as prosecutors provided more details on the group’s planning and private communications leading up to the attack.

“I had not seen that many weapons in one location since I was in the military,” said Terry Cummings, a former member of the group’s Florida chapter who was subpoenaed for his testimony and has not been charged or accused of wrongdoing in connection with Jan. 6.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

A Trump employee told the FBI that the former president ordered staff to move boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

One of Donald Trump‘s employees told FBI agents the former president ordered boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago to be moved before federal agents searched the property, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The source also told NBC News that the FBI obtained security video showing people moving boxes out of a storage room at Trump’s Florida estate.

The Washington Post first reported the employee’s account on Wednesday.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Alex Jones must pay $965 million in damages to families of 8 Sandy Hook victims

gavel courtroom trial
gavel courtroom trial

The conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay $965 million to the families of eight Sandy Hook shooting victims and an FBI agent who responded to the attack for the suffering he caused them by spreading lies on his platforms about the 2012 massacre, a Connecticut jury found on Wednesday.

Jones faced liability for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and violations of the state Unfair Trade Practices Act, for creating a fake narrative that the mass shooting was a hoax. The families claimed Jones profited off the lies while they were harassed and abused by those who believed him.

The jury made 15 individual awards that ranged from $28.8 million to $120 million. The families and agent also received separate punitive damages.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Jan. 6 panel set to hold final hearing today before midterm elections

capitol riot insurrection
capitol riot insurrection

The Jan. 6 committee’s ninth and likely final investigative hearing Thursday will feature new testimony and evidence, including Secret Service records and surveillance video.

The hearing, set for 1 p.m. ET, will not include any live witnesses, a committee aide said. And unlike earlier hearings that focused on a specific aspect of the GOP plot to overturn the 2020 election and keep then-President Donald Trump in power, Thursday’s presentation will take a more sweeping view of what happened before, during and after the Jan. 6 attack.

“Tomorrow, what we’re going to be doing is taking a step back and we’re going to be looking at that entire plan, the entire multipart plan to overturn the election. We’re going to be looking at it in a broader context and in a broader timeline as well,” a committee aide said on a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast W 10-12-22

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Herschel Walker claims ex-girlfriend, whose identity he says he knows, is lying about abortion

Herschel Walker
Herschel Walker

Senate hopeful Herschel Walker said Tuesday that he now knows the identity of the person alleging that he reimbursed her for the cost of an abortion procedure more than a decade ago, but said he has not spoken to the ex-girlfriend since the news broke and accused her of lying.

“I know nothing about an abortion,” Walker told ABC News anchor Linsey Davis. “I knew it was a lie and I said it was a lie — and I just move on … it’s sad that people say October surprise, but you’re destroying families.”

“This race is too important for me to give up or for me to stop,” he continued. “So, October surprise is not going to faze me.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Kevin McCarthy Reportedly Berated a GOP Colleague and Drove Her to Tears for Speaking About His Jan. 6 Call With Trump

Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy

A pair of new book excerpts show Kevin McCarthy lashing out and under massive pressure from the fallout of Donald Trump’s supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.

Politico Playbook got an early look at Weapons of Mass Delusion: When the Republican Party Lost Its Mind, the upcoming book from New York Times Magazine writer Robert Draper. The book delves into the GOP’s continued subservience to Trump after the 2020 election, and in a chapter called “The Enabler,” it explores the phone call where McCarthy begged Trump to call off his rioting supporters who laid siege to Congress.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Justice Department urges Supreme Court to reject Trump request over seized Mar-a-Lago documents

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reject former President Donald Trump‘s request to give the special master reviewing documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate access to those marked as classified.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in court papers that Trump would suffer “no harm at all” if the documents are temporarily withheld from the special master. Addressing Trump’s potential ownership stake in the documents, including possible assertions of attorney-client privilege or executive privilege, Prelogar said Trump had “no plausible claims.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Biden warns there will be ‘consequences’ for Saudi Arabia after oil production cut

oil well refinery
oil well refinery

President Joe Biden warned Tuesday that Saudi Arabia would face “consequences” after OPEC+ last week announced the biggest cut in oil production since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Senior Democrats on Capitol Hill have condemned the decision by Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the oil-producing alliance, to reduce the global supply of petroleum. Higher oil prices are seen as helping Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, finance its war in Ukraine.

“There’s going to be some consequences for what they’ve done with Russia,” Biden said of Saudi Arabia in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. “I’m not going to get into what I’d consider and what I have in mind. But there will be — there will be consequences.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast T 10-11-22

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Trump Lawyers Are Turning on Each Other Over Mar-a-Lago Probe

CHRISTINA BOBB, THE Trump lawyer who in June signed a letter certifying that all of the sensitive material the former president moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago had been returned, is talking to federal authorities investigating the matter.

The news that Bobb is dishing to the feds, reported initially by NBC News, comes just over two months after the FBI searched Trump’s Palm Beach estate, where they found scores of sensitive, classified documents. This means Bobb’s statement was false, of course. She claims it’s not her fault, though, reportedly telling investigators that one of Trump’s other lawyers, Evan Corcoran, told her to sign it.

Read the rest of the story at Rolling Stone

U.S. airport websites knocked offline in apparent pro-Russia hacking attack

plane airplane flight
plane airplane flight

An apparently coordinated denial-of-service attack organized by pro-Russia hackers rendered the websites of some major U.S. airports unreachable early Monday, though officials said flights were not affected.

The attacks — in which participants flood targets with junk data — were orchestrated by a shadowy group that calls itself Killnet. On the eve of the attacks the group published a target list on its Telegram channel.

While highly visible and aimed at maximum psychological impact, DDoS attacks are mostly a noisy nuisance, different from hacking that involves breaking into networks and can do serious damage.

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Secret Service agents were denied when they tried to learn what Jan. 6 info was seized from their personal cellphones

cell phone smartphone
cell phone smartphone

Secret Service agents asked the agency for a record of all of the communications seized from their personal cellphones as part of investigations into the events of Jan. 6, 2021, but were rebuffed, according to a document reviewed by NBC News.

The Secret Service’s office that handles such requests, the Freedom of Information Act Program, denied the request, in which agents invoked the Privacy Act to demand more information about what had been shared from their personal devices.

The request was made in early August, just after news came to light that both Congress and the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general were interested in obtaining text messages of Secret Service agents that had been erased as part of what the agency said was a planned upgrade.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump lawyer Christina Bobb speaks to federal investigators in Mar-a-Lago case

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

Christina Bobb, the attorney who signed a letter certifying that all sensitive records in former President Donald Trump’s possession had been returned to the government, spoke to federal investigators Friday and named two other Trump attorneys involved with the case, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The certification statement, signed June 3 by Bobb, indicated that Trump was in compliance with a May grand jury subpoena and no longer had possession of a host of documents with classification markings at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, according to the three sources who do not want to comment publicly because of the sensitive nature of the sprawling federal investigation.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast M 10-10-22

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Trump campaigns for Arizona election deniers in a state that will test his power in 2022 and beyond

There is perhaps nowhere in the country where former President Donald Trump had more success elevating his slate of “Make American Great Again” candidates into formidable 2022 contenders than Arizona, a state he narrowly lost in 2020 where he has relentlessly sought to overturn the presidential election results.

With less than a month until Election Day, Trump campaigned in Mesa on Sunday with those hand-selected GOP candidates vying for the top offices in the state: Gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, US Senate nominee Blake Masters and Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem.

Read the rest of the story at CNN

Kanye West’s Twitter account locked after offensive tweet aimed at Jewish community

Twitter

Kanye West is facing controversy again, after Twitter locked his account over a tweet he wrote aimed at the Jewish community that violated the company’s policies.

The rapper, who changed his name to Ye, posted a highly offensive tweet referencing the Jewish community on Saturday night, which involved a reference to the defense readiness alert used by the U.S. armed forces.

“The funny thing is I actually can’t be Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew also You guys have toyed with me and tried to black ball anyone whoever opposes your agenda,” the rapper wrote in the now-deleted post.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Blasts rock Kyiv after Putin accuses Ukraine of Crimea bridge attack ‘terrorism’

Kiev Kyiv Ukraine Flag
Kiev Kyiv Ukraine Flag

Multiple explosions rocked Kyiv and cities across Ukraine on Monday, shattering months of relative calm for civilians in the capital and beyond.

At least 8 people were killed and 24 others injured after Russian missile attacks hit the city, Ukrainian officials said.

NBC News has not verified the claims.

Air defenses were activated in what appeared to be a broad attack not seen since the very earliest days of the war, when Moscow’s troops invaded after launching a barrage of fire on civilian targets.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

The Rude Pundit: Herschel Walker Proves That All That GOP Abortion Sh** Was a Lie

I’ve never seen a grift given away quite as blatantly as it was by right-wing talk thing Dana Loesch (motto: “I was too fucking crazy for the NRA”). In talking about the revelation that ultra-anti-abortion Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, running against incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock, paid for a girlfriend’s abortion, Loesch started with “What I’m about to say is in no means a contradiction or a compromise of a principle,” which automatically means “I’m throwing my principles out the window faster than a priest at Disney World.” Then she just fucking said it, the thing we all knew was true but that none of them had the guts to just let everyone know: “I am concerned about one thing, and one thing only at this point. So, I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles. I want control of the Senate.”

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

StephCast F 10-7-22

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Judy Tenuta, Accordion-Playing ‘Love Goddess’ of Standup Comedy, Dies at 72

Judy Tenuta
Judy Tenuta

Judy Tenuta, a standup comic who shot to fame during the 1980s, delivering her frenetic, off-kilter comedy while dressed in outlandish outfits, playing the accordion and anointing herself “The Love Goddess,” died on Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 72.

Her longtime manager, Roger Paul, said the cause was ovarian cancer.

Ms. Tenuta broke through at a time when the comedy industry was almost exclusively male and was the first woman standup comic to win “Best Female Comedian” at the American Comedy Awards in 1988, according to a biography on her official website. She was also nominated for two Emmys for her comedy albums, “Attention Butt-Pirates & Lesbetarians!” and “In Goddess We Trust.”

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Justice Dept. Is Said to Believe Trump Has More Documents

Trump Classified Documents
Trump Classified Documents

A top Justice Department official told former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers in recent weeks that the department believed he had not returned all the documents he took when he left the White House, according to two people briefed on the matter.

The outreach from the official, Jay I. Bratt, who leads the department’s counterintelligence operations, is the most concrete indication yet that investigators remain skeptical that Mr. Trump has been fully cooperative in their efforts to recover documents the former president was supposed to have turned over to the National Archives at the end of his term.

It is not clear what steps the Justice Department might take to retrieve any material it thinks Mr. Trump still holds.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Biden warns risk of nuclear ‘Armageddon’ is highest since Cuban Missile Crisis

Biden Speaking
Biden Speaking

President Joe Biden said Thursday the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is the highest it has been for 60 years after Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed his threats.

In remarks at a reception for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Biden said it was the first time since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis that there has been a “direct threat” of nuclear weapons’ being used, “if, in fact, things continue down the path they are going.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Biden to pardon thousands convicted of marijuana possession

marijuana pot cannabis
marijuana pot cannabis

President Joe Biden announced Thursday he will take executive action to pardon thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law.

Biden said he would also encourage governors to take similar action with state offenses and ask the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department to review how marijuana is scheduled, or classified, under federal law.

The president’s action, a significant shift in the federal government’s approach to marijuana policy, is a step toward making good on his campaign commitment to decriminalize marijuana.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 10-6-22

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In Rebuke to West, OPEC and Russia Aim to Raise Oil Prices With Big Supply Cut

oil well refinery
oil well refinery

Saudi Arabia and Russia, acting as leaders of the OPEC Plus energy cartel, agreed on Wednesday to their first large production cut in more than two years in a bid to raise prices, countering efforts by the United States and Europe to choke off the enormous revenue that Moscow reaps from the sale of crude.

President Biden and European leaders have urged more oil production to ease gasoline prices and punish Moscow for its aggression in Ukraine. Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, has been accused of using energy as a weapon against countries opposing its invasion of Ukraine, and the optics of the decision could not be missed.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Appeals court agrees to speed up Justice Department’s appeal of order appointing outside arbiter in Trump documents dispute

Trump Classified Documents
Trump Classified Documents

A federal appeals court in Atlanta agreed to speed up consideration of the Justice Department’s appeal of a lower court order appointing an outside legal expert to review the documents seized by the FBI at former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit granted the request from federal prosecutors to shorten the timeline for the Justice Department and Trump’s lawyers to file briefs in the dispute. The former president opposed the request, arguing in a filing to the 11th Circuit on Monday that he would be prejudiced if the appeal were expedited.

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Woman Who Claims Herschel Walker Paid for Her Abortion Says They Also Share a Child

Herschel Walker
Herschel Walker

Walker’s campaign has been in damage control mode for 48 hours – since it was reported by the Daily Beast that he paid $700 to have a pregnancy he considered inconvenient terminated. The candidate has denied the story as a lie and has claimed he does not know who the woman is.

Her identity has been protected, but she told the Beast his adamant denials drove her to divulge the bombshell.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Biden meets with DeSantis in Florida as he surveys Hurricane Ian damage

President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared side-by-side in hard-hit Fort Myerson Wednesday as the president surveyed damage from Hurricane Ian.

The two leaders, often political opponents, have momentarily put politics aside to respond to the historic storm, which is shaping up to be one of Florida’s deadliest and costliest in decades. Making landfall as a Category 4 hurricane, Ian leveled the coast, knocking out power to millions. At least 100 people died.

DeSantis and his wife, Casey DeSantis, greeted Biden and first lady Jill Biden upon their arrival at Fisherman’s Wharf for an operational briefing. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Marco Rubio, and other local officials were also at the site.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

StephCast W 10-5-22

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New Poll Shows Lauren Boebert Effectively Tied With Challenger, Suddenly at Risk of Losing Seat

graph poll
graph poll

Controversial Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) leads her Democratic challenger Adam Frisch by only two points, according to a new poll out this week.

The Keating Research poll, conducted from Sept. 2 to October 2, found Boebert leading with 47 percent of the vote to Frisch’s 45 percent, with 7 percent undecided. The poll carried a margin of error of 4.4 percent, making the result a statistical tie.

The last poll from Keating, a left-leaning firm, found Boebert leading 49-42 percent. The new poll shows a 5-point swing in the direction of the Democrat.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

“The final defense is us and our rifles”: Oath Keepers leaders talked of taking up arms days after Biden’s victory

gun guns ammo weapon bullets
gun guns ammo weapon bullets

In the days after media outlets calculated that Joe Biden had won the 2020 presidential election, prosecutors allege members of the far-right Oath Keepers group, including founder Stewart Rhodes, were making calculations of their own: how best to mount a resistance to Joe Biden’s presidency and disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.

FBI Special Agent Michael Palian — assigned to investigate the group’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack – told a Washington, D.C., jury on Tuesday that records and text messages from Nov. 9, 2020, show that Rhodes and other Oath Keepers convened a call to discuss where their fight would go next. 

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Trump Lashes Out at ‘Fake News Media’ Over Herschel Walker’s Abortion Bombshell: ‘Trying to Destroy a Man’ With ‘True Greatness in His Future’

Donald Trump
Donald Trump

Former President Donald Trump attacked the media while defending Herschel Walker over the newly-reported abortion bombshell for the Republican Senate candidate he endorsed.

“Herschel Walker is being slandered and maligned by the Fake News Media and obviously, the Democrats,” Trump declared in a statement on Tuesday. “Interestingly, I’ve heard many horrible things about his opponent, Raphael Warnock, things that nobody should be talking about, so we don’t. Herschel has properly denied the charges against him, and I have no doubt he is correct.”

Trump declined to elaborate on these so-called “horrible things” people ought to know about Walker’s opponent, the Democratic incumbent senator. The ex-president also refused to address any of the evidence The Daily Beast cited in their report that Walker — an anti-abortion absolutist — impregnated his girlfriend in 2009 and then paid for her to have the procedure. The Beast broke the story after speaking with the woman, who produced a $575 receipt from the abortion clinic, a bank deposit receipt with a check from Walker, and a “get well” card that — according to Walker’s own son — has his dad’s handwriting on it.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Trump Asks Supreme Court to Intervene in Mar-a-Lago Case, Rips Raid as Political and Says: ‘I Want My Documents Back’

Supreme Court SCOTUS
Supreme Court SCOTUS

Former President Donald Trump has asked the United States Supreme Court to intervene on his behalf in his classified documents fight against the Justice Department.

In a filing Tuesday afternoon, attorneys for Trump said they are seeking to overturn a ruling from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals that ordered his hand-picked special master to halt a review of documents from his home on Aug. 8.

In a request addressed to Justice Clarence Thomas, who is assigned to the 11th Circuit, Trump’s legal team portrayed the DOJ’s case against Trump as political

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

StephCast T 10-4-22

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Oath Keepers leader regretted not having guns on Jan. 6, prosecutors say at seditious conspiracy trial

gavel courtroom trial
gavel courtroom trial

The founder of the far-right Oath Keepers was recorded days after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol saying his “only regret” about that day is that the group “should have brought rifles,” federal prosecutors revealed in federal court Monday.

Opening statements began Monday in the seditious conspiracy trialof Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes alongside Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell. Other members of the alleged conspiracy will go on trial in November.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Herschel Walker’s son lashes out at dad after news report the Senate GOP nominee paid for an abortion in 2009

Twitter

Herschel Walker’s son Christian Walker blasted his dad’s bid for a Georgia Senate seat by calling him a bad father, a liar and a hypocrite just hours after a news report Monday said the GOP nominee got a woman pregnant and paid for her abortion more than a decade ago.

“I don’t care about someone who has a bad past and takes accountability. But how DARE YOU LIE and act as though you’re some ‘moral, Christian, upright man.’ You’ve lived a life of DESTROYING other peoples lives. How dare you,” Christian Walker wrote in a series of tweets.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump defamation suit accuses CNN of escalating slander against him over ‘fears’ he will run in 2024

CNN
CNN

Former President Donald Trump sued CNN alleging defamation on Monday, accusing the news network of taking persistent actions aimed at “defeating him politically.”

According to the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Southern Florida, Trump alleged CNN has maliciously made false and defamatory statements about him. He is seeking $475 million in punitive damages, as well as compensatory damages to be determined at trial.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

National Archives notified Trump lawyers in May 2021 it was missing Kim Jong Un correspondence and Obama letter

Write writing letter pen paper
Write writing letter pen paper

The National Archives notified Donald Trump’s lawyers in May 2021 that some of the presidential records it was missing included correspondence between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a letter former President Barack Obama left for Trump, according to a previously undisclosed email.

The National Archives and Record Administration made the email, dated May 6, 2021, and several other documents public Monday in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by numerous news organizations. The bulk of requested material was not released.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Charlie Pierce: They’ve Figured Out who Ronald DeSantis’ Pied Piper of the Vineyard Is

Charlie Pierce Esquire
Charlie Pierce Esquire
When details started to emerge from Martha’s Vineyard about the mechanics of Florida Gov. Ronald DeSantis’ dirty trick, one of the principal villains was the mysterious “Perla,” who (one assumes) has some interesting tales to tell about how she landed the gig, including who hired her and what her instructions were. If only we knew who she was!

Imagine that: CNN figured it out. She’s Perla Huerta.

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics

StephCast M 10-3-22

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“They cheat like hell, these people”: Trump airs 2020 grievances in Michigan, weeks before midterm elections

For the first seven minutes of his Michigan rally Saturday, former President Donald Trump stuck to two familiar issues Republicans are running on this November: inflation and the rising cost of living under President Biden, and immigration and the southern border. 

Then, he turned to a topic that’s been occupying him since November 2020: that the presidential election had been “stolen” from him. 

He claimed John James, now a congressional candidate for Michigan’s 10th District, had won his last race for U.S. Senate in 2020. He did not. James lost to Sen. Gary Peters by over 92,000 votes. Trump accused Democrats of obliterating “election integrity.” He said America is a “third world country” because of how ballots are counted, and he praised France for using paper ballots.

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Sen. Rick Scott says there are ‘arguments to do’ abortion restrictions ‘at the federal level’

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the chairman of Senate Republicans’ campaign fundraising arm, said Sunday that he supports “reasonable” abortion restrictions and that “there’s arguments to do it at the federal level.”

Scott was asked on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” to weigh in on Sen. Lindsey Graham’s bill to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy and whether he believes such restrictions should be done on the federal level.

“Look, there’s arguments to do it at the federal level,” he said. “Right now, all the candidates are taking positions.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Historic search-and-rescue operation underway as Ian’s death toll reaches 87

As federal emergency management officials launched their largest ever search-and-rescue effort, the number of fatalities in Hurricane Ian’s wake climbed to 87 Sunday.

That number, tallied by NBC News, was expected to continue to climb as additional deaths were investigated for possible ties to last week’s storm.

The fatalities so far have included 83 in Florida, where Ian struck as a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday, and four in North Carolina, where the storm ended up after striking the coast of South Carolina Friday.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

National Archives says some records from Trump White House are still missing

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

The National Archives and Records Administration has informed the House Oversight and Reform Committee that some records from the Trump White House have not been turned over in compliance with the Presidential Records Act.

In a letter Friday to the panel’s chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., acting Archivist Debra Steidel Wall said the National Archives is still trying to retrieve records from Trump administration officials who “conducted official business using non-official electronic messaging accounts.”

“While there is no easy way to establish absolute accountability, we do know that we do not have custody of everything we should,” Wall wrote.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

The Rude Pundit: On Mental Health, Like on Everything Else, Republicans Are Always Liars

In June, during the debate over two Democratic-sponsored bills with mild new rules for purchase and ownership of firearms in the wake of the horrific school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, Republicans predictably lost their collective shit over “muh 2nd ‘Mendment.” Putting aside the fact that without the guns, people in all kinds of mental states would not be able to shoot other people, what was fascinating in that GOP shit-losing was how many times Republicans said that they wanted to pass bills that addressed mental health issues, not guns. It’s as if they found a magical talking point and they waved it like a wand made of liberal tears.

For instance:

Rep. August Pfluger of Texas claimed that Republicans had a bill that provided funding for “mental health counselors” for schools.

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

SMHH Videocast 9-30-22 Elie Mystal & Frangela

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StephCast 9-30-22

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Ginni Thomas Denies Discussing Election Subversion Efforts With Her Husband

WASHINGTON — Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas and a conservative activist who pushed to overturn the 2020 election, told the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that she never discussed those efforts with her husband, during a closed-door interview in which she continued to perpetuate the false claim that the election was stolen.

Leaving the interview, which took place at an office building near the Capitol and lasted about four hours, Ms. Thomas smiled in response to reporters’ questions, but declined to answer any publicly.

Stephcast 9-29-22

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StephCast 9-28-22

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Jan. 6 committee postpones planned hearing as Hurricane Ian advances

capitol Washington DC
capitol Washington DC

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is postponing its highly anticipated hearing because of Hurricane Ian, which is expected to barrel into the western coast of Florida on Wednesday, according to two people familiar with the decision.

It’s unclear when the daytime hearing, which seeks to recapture the nation’s attention with what is likely to be the panel’s final public hearing before the release of a final report, will be rescheduled.

StephCast 9-27-22

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How a QAnon splinter group became a feature of Trump rallies

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Julie McDaniel can’t say for sure who started it. It might even have been her.

McDaniel was in the front section at a Trump rally earlier this month in Youngstown, Ohio, when the former president started wrapping up his speech by playing an instrumental score embraced by followers of the QAnon online conspiracy theory. She felt moved to raise her right hand and point to the sky — to God, she said. Soon everyone around her was doing it, too.

“It was spontaneous, it was it was like the domino effect,” said McDaniel, who also attended Friday’s rally here in Wilmington, N.C., coming from her home in the Chicago area. She objected to news coverage that condemned the gesture, with some comparing it to a Nazi salute. “It was an amazing, amazing moment, when you have the unity that everybody is there, and not only in this small group that was on the floor, but other people were doing it,” she said.

Jan. 6 committee hearing will use clips from Roger Stone documentary

The Danish filmmakers, who previously were hesitant to cooperate with the investigation, said this week they decided to comply with a subpoena issued by the committee

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob intends to show at its hearing this week video footage of Roger Stone recorded by Danish filmmakers during the weeks before the violence, according to people familiar with the matter.

The committee is considering including video clips in which Stone, a longtime friend and adviser of Donald Trump, predicted violent clashes with left-wing activists and forecast months before the 2020 vote that the then-president would use armed guards and loyal judges to stay in power, according to one of the people familiar with hearing planning.

Kevin McCarthy Tripped Over His Clown Shoes Rolling Out His Pitch to Be Speaker

We had a little sport with Kevin McCarthy’s “Commitment To America” plan of inaction earlier this week. I believe the concept of rake-stepping was discussed at some length. Well, the agenda had its rollout on Friday, complete with an explanatory video. And, well…WHAP!

From HuffPost:

The GOP’s video, “The Preamble to the Commitment to America,” opens with a narrator highlighting aspects of what it means to be an American. “We celebrate the rich heritage of the American story and the vibrancy of the American Dream,” the voice says, over footage of a drilling rig at sunrise. But this video snippet, an apparent nod to America’s natural resources, wasn’t filmed in America. It’s stock footage created by Serg Grbanoff, a filmmaker based in Russia.

Classic.

The Gnawing Anxiety That Trump Will Get Away With All of It

The Rude Pundit
The Rude Pundit

I can’t get past something when it comes to the multiple crimes of Donald Trump, who really was president (something I still can’t fucking believe happened – I mean, I know it happened. I’m not denying the existence of facts, like Trump and his braindead legions do. I’m just always gonna be like “Fuck us that we let that happen”). And it’s really simple, one of those elegant confluences of circumstance that should have complete clarity. It’s this:

The law is intensely clear: With a few exceptions that need to be approved, the records of a presidential administration belong to the nation, not the president. All of it, classified, unclassified, and declassified, go to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, an office set up to take care of those records that are, again, by law, the nation’s. There’s no wiggle room on this. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals made it crystal-fuckin’-clear in its decision this week in favor of the Justice Department when it comes to the hundred or so documents found by the FBI at Trump’s shitty fake castle, Mar-a-lago. “They are ‘owned by, produced by or for, or . . . under the control of the United States Government,'” it wrote. 

StephCast 9-26-22

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Career prosecutors recommend no charges for Gaetz in sex-trafficking probe

Matt Gaetz
Matt Gaetz

Investigators see credibility challenges for two of the main witnesses in the probe of the congressman’s past dealings with a 17-year-old

Exclusive: Trump’s secret court fight to stop grand jury from getting information from his inner circle

Trump Dumb
Trump Dumb

Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys are fighting a secret court battle to block a federal grand jury from gathering information from an expanding circle of close Trump aides about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, people briefed on the matter told CNN.

The high-stakes legal dispute – which included the appearance of three attorneys representing Trump at the Washington, DC, federal courthouse on Thursday afternoon – is the most aggressive step taken by the former President to assert executive and attorney-client privileges in order to prevent some witnesses from sharing information in the criminal investigation events surrounding January 6, 2021.

Bombshell: J6 staffer told 60 Minutes White House switchboard called rioter on Jan. 6

White House Washington DC President
White House DC President

On Friday, 60 Minutes revealed that Denver Riggleman, a key staffer for the House Select Committee on January 6, discovered the White House switchboard patched through to the phone of a Capitol rioter — while the attack was in progress.

Tish James Got the Goods on the Trump Family Grift—Now What?

While it’s nice to learn more about the crimes Trump & Co. committed, what many of us really want is to know when he’ll be held accountable.

By Elie MystalTwitter

September 22, 2022

On Wednesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James unveiled a 222-page civil complaint against Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, Don Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and a number of others involved in Trump’s business dealings in New York. The lawsuit alleges a raft of financial misdealings, fraud, and misrepresentations carried out by Trump, his family, and his cronies.

SMHH VideoCast with Rep. John Yarmuth (D-KY) & Jill Wine-Banks

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StephCast F 9-23-22

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House Passes Symbolic Police Funding And Reform Bills

capitol Washington DC
capitol Washington DC

House Democrats approved legislation Thursday that would provide millions of dollars to local law enforcement while aiming to enhance police training and technology.

The four bills, which are unlikely to clear the Senate and become law, are designed to send a message: that Democrats support small police departments, but also improvements to police practices.

Democrats reached a breakthrough deal after months of arguments between progressives and centrists. President Joe Biden and other moderates have worked to distance the party from the “Defund the Police” slogan and activism of the summer of 2020, which they feel has damaged the party’s electoral prospects.

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

‘A Lot of Panic’: Russian Men, Fearing Ukraine Draft, Seek Refuge Abroad

A little more than 12 hours after he heard that Russian civilians could be pressed into military service in the Ukraine war, the tour guide said he bought a plane ticket and a laptop, changed money, wrapped up his business, kissed his crying mother goodbye and boarded a plane out of his country, with no idea when he might return.

On Thursday morning, he walked into the cavernous arrival hall of the Istanbul International Airport carrying only a backpack and the address of a friend who had promised to put him up while he figured out what to do with his life.

“I was sitting and thinking about what I could die for, and I didn’t see any reason to die for the country,” said the tour guide, 23, who, like others interviewed for this article, declined to give his name for fear of reprisals.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

In angry outburst, Infowars host Alex Jones says ‘he’s done being sorry’ during second defamation trial

In an angry outburst, conspiracy theorist and Infowars host Alex Jones said “he’s done being sorry” as he took the stand Thursday during his second defamation trial for saying the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. 

“Is this a struggle session? Are we in China?” he exclaimed during his testimony after being reminded of those who were murdered and shown a clip of Robbie Parker at a press conference the day after his daughter Emilie died in the 2012 mass shooting. 

“I’ve already said I’m sorry hundreds of times and I’m done saying I’m sorry,” Jones said. 

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Special master in Mar-a-Lago case asks Trump to back up his allegation that FBI ‘planted’ evidence

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

The special master appointed to review documents federal agents seized at Donald Trump’s Florida estate has given the former president until Friday of next week to back up his allegation that the FBI planted evidence in the search on Aug. 8.

After the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Trump and his lawyers have publicly insinuated on multiple occasions without providing evidence that agents planted evidence during the search. “Planting information anyone?” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Aug. 12.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 9-22-22

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Appeals court lifts hold that prevented Justice Department from using classified documents in Mar-a-Lago probe

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

A federal appeals court said Wednesday that the Justice Departmentcan resume using classified documents seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate in its criminal investigation.

The Justice Department had appealed a ruling this month by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, that temporarily barred it from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes.

The appeals court panel, comprised of two Trump appointees and one Obama appointee, thoroughly rejected Trump’s position on the classified documents and parts of Cannon’s reasoning for issuing her original order. The appeals court said that among the factors under consideration were whether or not Trump had individual interest or need for the classified documents, which the district court hadn’t mentioned in its analysis.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

1,300 arrested for protesting Putin’s mobilization as others scramble for flights out of Russia

Putin Russia
Putin Russia

The Kremlin has for months fought to maintain a sense of domestic normalcy while pursuing its faltering war in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of a “partial mobilization”has, for some Russians at least, shattered that illusion. 

By the time Putin’s recorded announcement was done playing on TV on Wednesday, Russians were scrambling to buy the last available flights out of the country and opposition groups were calling for protests as his order bred a sense of unease at home, just as his nuclear threats sought to do abroad.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Ginni Thomas to meet with House committee investigating Jan. 6 riot

The House Jan. 6 committee has reached an agreement with Ginni Thomas to be interviewed in the coming weeks, a source close to the House panel said Wednesday.

Emails, records and reporting indicate that Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was involved in some aspects of a scheme involving “fake electors” after the 2020 election and was also in touch with Trump lawyer John Eastman about his strategies to overturn the election results.

CNN first reported the planned meeting with Thomas, which comes after weeks of back and forth and a letter asking her to speak with the panel.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

New York AG sues Trump, 3 of his children and their company, charging large-scale business fraud

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a sweeping lawsuit Wednesday against former President Donald Trump, his three eldest children and the Trump Organization in connection with her yearslong civil investigation into the company’s business practices.

In the suit, which runs more than 200 pages, James’ office detailswhat it says are Trump’s efforts to inflate his personal net worth to attract favorable loan agreements and alleges more than 200 instances of fraud over 10 years.

James is seeking to permanently bar the Trump family from serving as officers of New York-based companies and prevent Trump and his company from entering into commercial real estate acquisitions in the state for five years. She is also seeking about $250 million in penalties. In addition, her office is sending a criminal referral to the IRS and U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan, she said.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast W 9-21-22

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Putin orders partial mobilization of Russian reservists and hints using nuclear weapons still possible

Putin Russia
Putin Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization of reservists in Russia, in a measure that appeared to be an admission that Moscow’s war against Ukraine isn’t going according to plan after nearly seven months of fighting and amid recent battlefield losses for the Kremlin’s forces.

The Russian leader, in a televised address to the nation aired on Wednesday morning, also warned the West that he isn’t bluffing over using all the means at his disposal to protect Russia’s territory, in what appeared to be a veiled reference to Russia’s nuclear capability. Putin has previously warned the West not to back Russia against the wall and has rebuked NATO countries for supplying weapons to help Ukraine.

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Fed expected to raise interest rates, escalate fight against inflation

graph poll
graph poll

Wall Street will watch closely on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve is expected to escalate its fightagainst inflation with a dramatic interest rate hike.

The move would come a little more than a week after a higher-than-expected inflation report revealed that prices rose slightly in August, worsening the cost woes for U.S. households and sending the S&P 500 tumbling for its worst day of 2022.

The Fed has instituted a series of aggressive interest rate hikes in recent months as it tries to slash price increases by slowing the economy and choking off demand. But the approach risks tipping the U.S. into an economic downturn and putting millions out of work.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Members of far-right group America First charged in connection with Jan. 6 riot

capitol riot insurrection
capitol riot insurrection

Five people who federal investigators say are associated with the far-right group America First have been arrested in connection with last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In addition to numerous criminal charges, they are accused of entering House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s conference room, according to a court filing.

The Justice Department said in the filing that the leadership of America First “has espoused a belief that they are defending against the demographic and cultural changes in America.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Special master in Mar-a-Lago case appears skeptical of Trump ‘declassification’ claims

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

The special master appointed to review documents federal agents seized at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate appeared doubtful Tuesday about Trump’s contention that he had declassified the various top secret and other highly sensitive documents found there.

The special master, Senior U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie of New York, had asked Trump’s attorneys for more information about which of the over 100 sensitive documents federal agents found at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach might have been declassified. Trump’s attorneys had told the judge in a letter Monday night that they didn’t want to disclose the information yet because it could force them to prematurely “disclose a defense to the merits of any subsequent indictment.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast T 9-20-22

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Trump ally Mike Lindell must face defamation suit over election-rigging claims

Mike Lindell MyPillow
Mike Lindell MyPillow

MyPillow Inc. Chief Executive Mike Lindell must face a defamation lawsuit brought by a voting machine company that the Trump ally falsely accused of rigging the 2020 U.S. election, a Minnesota federal judge ruled on Monday.

Judge Wilhelmina M. Wright denied Lindell and MyPillow’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit by Smartmatic USA Corp., finding ample evidence that Lindell ignored publicly available information that contradicted his theories.

Judge Wright also found sufficient evidence that Lindell knew or should have known his statements were false and acted with “actual malice” in promoting them, a key legal threshold in defamation cases.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump attorneys don’t want to disclose which Mar-a-Lago documents he claims to have declassified

Trump Classified Documents
Trump Classified Documents

Donald Trump’s attorneys said in a filing Monday night that they don’t want to disclose to a court-appointed special master which Mar-a-Lago documents they assert the former president may or may not have declassified.

In a four-page letter to the special master, Trump’s attorneys pushed back against Senior U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie’s apparent proposal that they submit “specific information regarding declassification” to him in the course of his review.

Dearie issued an order Friday summoning both parties to the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, for a preliminary conference Tuesday.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Texas sheriff opens criminal investigation into Martha’s Vineyard migrant trips

blue light police siren

A Texas sheriff said Monday that his office has opened a criminal investigation into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ unprecedented move to send nearly 50 migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, last week.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said the inquiry was in its early stages, and he declined to name possible suspects. But in a news conference, he said: “Everybody on this call knows who those names are already.”

Salazar said it was not clear whether any laws had been broken, but he said that 48 migrants appeared to have been “lured under false pretenses” into staying at a hotel for a couple of days before they were flown to Florida and Martha’s Vineyard.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Top Jan. 6 committee members propose reforms to 1887 Electoral Count Act

Liz Cheney
Liz Cheney

Two senior members of the Jan. 6 select committee have introduced a bipartisan bill to reform the counting of presidential electoral votes to prevent another riot at the Capitol over disputed results.

The Presidential Election Reform Act from Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., targets some of the perceived nuances in 135-year-old Electoral Count Act that former President Donald Trump and his supporters attempted to exploit to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.

“Our proposal is intended to preserve the rule of law for all future presidential elections by ensuring that self-interested politicians cannot steal from the people the guarantee that our government derives its power from the consent of the governed,” Cheney and Lofgren wrote in a joint Wall Street Journal column last week.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Charlie Pierce: The Republicans Built a Time Machine, Powered by Racism

Charlie Pierce Esquire
Charlie Pierce Esquire
The good people who manage the vast archives at the John F. Kennedy Library down by the bay in Boston are not people known to miss a trick. There is so much history stored there because, as we oldsters will tell you, the 1960s were a pretty target-rich environment, history-wise. Of course, JFK’s time in office was cut off before what we call the ’60s really got rolling. Consider: If he had not been murdered, Kennedy would have been president of the United States when the Beatles arrived and throughout the Summer of Love in 1967—but a lot of the seeds that sprouted later can be found in the stacks of his library, which sits like the prow of a ship, pointed out over a domesticated slice of the Atlantic Ocean.

For example, during his entire time in office (but especially after the Bay of Pigs debacle in 1961), Kennedy and the CIA were at sword’s point. Kennedy didn’t trust the CIA as far as he could throw Allen Dulles—and, in the aftermath of the Cuban fiasco, JFK threw him pretty far—and the spooks out at Langley thought the president was callow and not up to the job of being butch with the Soviet Union and Fidel Castro. (So many of the ‘Who Shot John?’ theories surrounding Kennedy’s murder have their roots in this undeniable conflict.) Anyway, on March 16, 1963, looking to manufacture a casus belli with which to justify another Cuban invasion, the Joint Chiefs of Staff came up with a plan called Operation Northwoods, a blatantly illegal and utterly batshit plan to create false-flag domestic terrorist attacks that could be blamed on Castro’s regime. One of these proposed actions involved blowing up John Glenn on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics

StephCast M 9-19-22

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The Rude Pundit: Graham and DeSantis Tried to Own But Got Owned

The Rude Pundit
The Rude Pundit

You know what’s darkly hilarious or perhaps hilariously dark or maybe not hilarious at all and just plain dark? I’d bet that Lindsey Graham and Ron DeSantis thought what they did this week was fucking awesome and that they’d show those no-good liberals what fucking hypocrites they are. Except that reality ended up punching them both in the dick for acting like dicks, and, yeah, that’s pretty fucking funny.

First, South Carolina Sen. Graham, who lately always looks like he’s on his fifth mint julep while annoyed that he doesn’t have enough liquor for number six, put out a bill to outlaw nearly all abortions after 15 weeks, and he fucking expected Republicans to jump for joy that he had solved the post-Roe clusterfuck of bad news for his party going into the midterms. At his weird little press conference announcing the bill, Graham pronounced, “If we adopted my bill, our bill, we would be in the mainstream of most everybody else in the world. I think there are 47 of the 50 European countries have a ban on abortion from 12 to 15 weeks. And I pick 15 weeks, which is a little longer than Belgium, Germany and Spain, longer than France, Denmark, and Norway.” So now we’re taking our cues from Europe? I thought that was wrong and might turn us all gay to do that. 

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

All of Puerto Rico without power as Hurricane Fiona slams island

Hurricane Fiona battered Puerto Rico on Sunday, cutting power to the entire island while bringing destructive winds and life-threatening flash flooding. Conditions rapidly deteriorated even before the Category 1 storm made landfall Sunday afternoon, and the situation was not expected to improve much going into Monday.

As the wind and rain escalated Sunday, all 3.2 million people on the island were without power, according to PowerOutage.us, a site that tracks power failures. Puerto Rico’s governor, Pedro Pierluisi, confirmed in a tweet on Sunday afternoon that power was out on the entire island.

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post

World watches Britain lay its longest-reigning monarch to rest

Queen Elizabeth Royal UK
Queen Elizabeth Royal UK

An elaborate state funeral is Britain’s final tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, featuring a service at the 13th century Westminster Abbey, where her coronation took place almost 70 years ago, and a procession led by King Charles III through the crowd-lined streets of central London. Almost 2,000 guests are attending — among them more than 90 world leaders, representatives from dozens of royal families and members of the House of Windsor, including the queen’s great grandchildren George and Charlotte.

It is a national holiday in the United Kingdom, and tens of thousands of people have camped out overnight for the event. Millions more will watch from around the globe. Britain’s last state funeral was held in 1965 for wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post

NY Mayor Eric Adams calls for ‘coordination’ with GOP governors, WH on bused migrants

child sad boy
sad child boy

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday called for more “coordination” with the federal government and Govs. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, and Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who are busing and flying newly arrived migrants to blue states across the country.

“I traveled to Washington last week, spoke with Sen. [Chuck] Schumer, Sen. [Kirsten] Gillibrand and other lawmakers and sat down with Biden administration to talk about — how do we coordinate?” Adams, a Democrat, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl, referencing New York’s two Democratic senators.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

‘The pandemic is over,’ Biden says in ’60 Minutes’ Interview

Biden Speaking
Biden Speaking

After more than 1 million deaths in the U.S. and almost three years of lockdowns and economic disruption, President Joe Biden declared the coronavirus pandemic is over in an interview that aired Sunday.

Biden said on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that “we still have a problem with Covid,” adding: “We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over.”

CBS News said the interview was conducted Thursday, before the president flew to the United Kingdom for observances of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

SMHH VideoCast with Ali Velshi & Carlos Alazraqui – 9-16-22

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StephCast F 9-16-22

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Biden Approval Rises Sharply Ahead Of Midterms: Poll

graph poll
graph poll

President Joe Biden’s popularity improved substantially from his lowest point this summer, but concerns about his handling of the economy persist, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Support for Biden recovered from a low of 36% in July to 45%, driven in large part by a rebound in support from Democrats just two months before the November midterm elections. During a few bleak summer months when gasoline prices peaked and lawmakers appeared deadlocked, the Democrats faced the possibility of blowout losses against Republicans.

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

Trump Says Americans Won’t ‘Stand’ For Charges Against Him, Warns Of Trouble

Donald Trump said Thursday that Americans will not “stand” for indictments against him regarding top secret documents he took from the White House — and ominously warned that criminal charges could trigger “big problems” never before seen.

Trump also declared that he issued a standing order to declassify everything he took from the White House. It’s a resurrected claim that even his attorneys haven’t presented in court filings — and one contradicted by several Trump administration officials.

Asked about possible indictments related to the several boxes of White House documents, including classified and even top secret files, stashed at Mar-a-Lago, Trump repeatedly told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on his program that Americans won’t “stand for it,” and that any charges would trigger “problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before.”

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

Jeffrey Clark, whom Trump considered for AG, had phone seized in obstruction probe

cell phone smartphone
cell phone smartphone

Federal agents who seized former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark‘s phone in June were looking for evidence of crimes of making false statements, criminal conspiracy and obstruction of justice, according to a new filing.

Clark, whom former President Donald Trump considered naming attorney general as part of his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, told officials with the Washington, D.C., bar that the search warrant for seizure of his electronic devices was connected to a criminal investigation into violations of three federal laws. Special agents with the Justice Department inspector general conducted the search in June.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Federal judge appoints special master to review documents seized at Mar-a-Lago

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

A federal judge appointed a special master to review documents the FBI seized from former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate while denying the Justice Department continued access to roughly 100 classified documents for use in its criminal investigation.

In an order Thursday, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon named Raymond J. Dearie, a senior U.S. district judge for the Eastern District of New York, to review all of the materials seized on Aug. 8. The Trump team had proposed Dearie, and Justice officials had previously signaled its approval for him as a potential arbiter to determine if any of the documents are protected by attorney-client or executive privileges.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 9-15-22

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CNN Reports Mark Meadows Complied With Department of Justice Subpoena as DOJ Goes ‘Gun Blazing’ on Jan. 6 Investigation

Mark Meadows has complied with a subpoena served to him by the Department of Justice, CNN reported Wednesday night.

Meadows served as former President Donald Trump’s last chief of staff. In the waning days of Trump’s presidency on Jan. 6, 2021, a mob stormed the Capitol to stop certification of the 2020 election Trump falsely claimed was rigged against him. That event has prompted investigations by both the DOJ and Congress.

“He’s complied with a subpoena from the Justice Department as part of the January 6th investigation,” CNN’s Evan Perez reported on Don Lemon Tonight. Now, this makes him the highest-ranking Trump official to comply with a subpoena as part of this criminal investigation.”

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

‘You’re gonna die tonight’: Trump fan admits dragging cop down Capitol steps

capitol riot insurrection
capitol riot insurrection

A man who wore a “Trump 2020” hat as he beat one officer and dragged another down the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6 has pleaded guilty, admitting telling officers “you’re gonna die tonight” and repeatedly assaulting law enforcement.

Jack Wade Whitton, 32, from Georgia, bragged in a message obtained by the government that he had “fed” a cop “to the people.” He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a felony charge of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon, which carries a maximum of 20 years in federal prison. His estimated sentencing guidelines are 6.5 to 8 years in federal prison but could be slightly lower if a judge agrees with Whitton’s contention that none of his victims were physically restrained during the assault.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

DeSantis flies two planes of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday flew two planes of immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, escalating a tactic by Republican governors to draw attention to what they consider to be the Biden administration’s failed border policies.

Flights to the upscale island enclave in Massachusetts were part of an effort to “transport illegal immigrants to sanctuary destinations,” said Taryn Fenske, DeSantis’ communications director.

While DeSantis’ office didn’t elaborate on their legal status, many migrants who cross the border illegally from Mexico are temporarily shielded from deportation after being freed by U.S. authorities to pursue asylum in immigration court — as allowed under U.S law and international treaty — or released on humanitarian parole.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast W 9-14-22

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Graham’s proposed near-total national abortion ban quickly meets GOP resistance

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Homeland Security Committee, tells reporters that he will push for a vote in Congress to kick the Palestinian Liberation Organization out of its Washington offices and threaten to withhold U.S. financial assistance if the Palestinians seek to use enhanced U.N. status against Israel, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 29, 2012. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Less than two months before the midterm elections, Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday introduced a bill that would impose a nationwide ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The measure, the first GOP effort to ban abortion at the national level since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, contains exceptions for cases of rape, incest or when a mother’s life is in danger but otherwise would restrict abortions after the point when Graham, citing medical research, claimed a fetus’ nerves develop enough to feel pain.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Kenneth Starr, independent counsel behind Bill Clinton’s impeachment, dies at 76

Ken Starr

Kenneth Starr, whose investigation as independent counsel led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, has died, his former employer Baylor University said Tuesday. He was 76.

Starr died at Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center in Houston of complications from surgery, the school said.

Starr ended his legal and scholarly career as president and chancellor of the private university in 2016 after six years.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

‘Irreparable harm’: Justice Department warns against further delay in Trump documents probe

The Justice Department on Tuesday blasted efforts by former President Donald Trump’s lawyers to delay its investigation of classified documents seized at his Florida resort, while a magistrate judge unsealed some previously redacted information relating to the FBI’s search of Trump’s club.

“Plaintiff [Trump] has characterized the government’s criminal investigation as a ‘document storage dispute’ or an ‘overdue library book scenario.’ In doing so, Plaintiff has not addressed the potential harms that could result from mishandling classified information or the strict requirements imposed by law for handling such materials,” the Justice Department said in a court filing urging U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to allow it to proceed for now with its criminal investigation into the over 100 classified documents the department says it took from Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Florida.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Judge Unseals Additional Portions Of Mar-A-Lago Affidavit

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

A federal judge Tuesday unsealed additional portions of an FBIaffidavit laying out the basis for a search of former President Donald Trump’s Florida home, showing that agents earlier obtained a hard drive after issuing a subpoena for surveillance footage recorded inside Mar-a-Lago.

A heavily redacted version of the affidavit was made public last month, but the Justice Department requested permission to show more of it after lawyers for Trump revealed the existence of a June grand jury subpoena that sought video footage from cameras in the vicinity of the Mar-a-Lago storage room.

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

StephCast T 9-13-22

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Charlie Pierce: Herschel Walker Is the Reductio ad Absurdum of Every “Not a Politician” Campaign

Sen. Raphael Warnock is a brilliant, eloquent advocate for the issues that he supports on behalf of his constituents. His opponent in the upcoming senatorial election in Georgia is…incredibly none of those things. Last week, for example, the opponent said this: “Warnock, I remember hearing him say, ‘America need to apologize for it whiteness.’ That’s not in a Bible I ever read. Our Founding Fathers already apologized for its whiteness. Because if you read the Constitution, it talks about every man being treated fair.”
 

First, Warnock never said this, and his opponent never heard him say it. Second, one does not have to have read the Bible to know it doesn’t contain that particular sentiment, and I don’t believe his opponent ever read the Bible, anyway. And, finally, the Constitution says nothing of the sort, and Warnock’s opponent hasn’t read the Constitution either. (The original Constitution, in fact, said quite the opposite, Three-Fifths Of All Other People etc.)

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s column at Esquire Politics

DOJ Agrees to Accept Trump’s Candidate for Special Master

The Department of Justice has agreed to accept one of former President Donald Trump’s nominees for a special master to review documents sized from his home by the FBI last month.

The former president and the DOJ had each submitted two candidates for a third-party to review documents Trump claims are protected by attorney-client privilege.

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon will now decide whether to approve senior Judge Raymond Dearie of New York to act as a neutral third party to review the materials.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Biden touts next steps on ‘Cancer Moonshot’ in speech at JFK library

Biden Kamala Harris Pelosi
Biden Kamala Harris Pelosi

President Joe Biden announced new steps to expand on his administration’s “Cancer Moonshot” initiative to prevent deaths from cancer by trying to speed the discovery of new treatments and improve prevention, detection and treatment to those suffering from the disease.

“Cancer doesn’t discriminate between red or blue, it doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat,” Biden said in a speech Monday afternoon at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston. “Beating cancer is something we can do together and that’s why I’m here today.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Justice Department has issued dozens of subpoenas in the last week related to Trump and the Capitol riot

justice court lawyer
justice court lawyer

The Justice Department has issued about 40 subpoenas in the last week related to the actions of former President Donald Trump, his allies and efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to sources familiar with the matter.

It also seized two telephones, the sources said.

The subpoenas and phone seizures, first reported by The New York Times, are the latest developments in the sprawling investigation into the former president.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast M 9-12-22

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The Rude Pundit: Abortion Rights and the Lie of “Reaching Across the Aisle”

Democrats make ads all the time about how they are willing to work across the aisle with the opposing party. (I know some Republicans do, too, but it’s not as prominent a thing on the right.) The notion is worn like a badge of honor, as if Democrats need to show how not Democratic they are.  For instance, in this election cycle, we have Elissa Slotkin in Michigan saying, “I refuse to let partisan politics hold this country back.” Senator Maggie Hassan goes even further, bragging, “I took on members of my own party” on a gas tax holiday. President Biden campaigned in 2020 on his supposed ability to work with Republicans (even if he’s learned how ludicrous a notion that is). 

And while the realities of getting legislation passed sometimes forces cooperation, to insist that you as a Democrat need buy-in from the other side in order to justify your position makes it seem like you’re apologizing for being a Democrat. The whole idea is a comforting lie, affirming a fictional tale of the two parties who can put aside differences for the good of the country. Mostly, it forces Democrats to agree to negotiate with people who are insane extremists and pretend like their positions aren’t so. 

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

Ex-Trump Aide Stephen Miller Subpoenaed In DOJ’s Jan. 6 Probe: Report

The Department of Justice has reportedly subpoenaed former President Donald Trump’s senior White House advisor Stephen Miller in a probe looking at a super PAC from the former president, The New York Times reported.

Miller, along with ex-White House political director Brian Jack, is reportedly among a group of more than a dozen people linked to Trump that received federal grand jury subpoenas this week.

Several “junior and mid-level” aides who worked for Trump in the White House and for his presidential bid also received subpoenas, The Times reported earlier this week.

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

Kamala Harris warns domestic threats to democracy are harming America at home and abroad

Vice President Kamala Harris said anti-democratic forces that have emerged in the mainstream of American politics have made the nation weaker at home and undermined our legitimacy overseas, joining President Joe Biden in describing it as a major threat.

Asked in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” whether the threats from within the U.S. pose a risk equal to or greater than what the nation faced 21 years ago on 9/11, Harris drew upon the oaths of office she had taken as a prosecutor, California’s attorney general, a senator and vice president to uphold the Constitution “against all enemies, foreign and domestic — and we don’t compare the two.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Biden honors 9/11 victims, vows commitment to thwart terrorism

President Joe Biden Flags Speech
President Joe Biden Flags Speech

President Joe Biden marked the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, laying a wreath at the Pentagon in a somber commemoration held under a steady rain and paying tribute to “extraordinary Americans” who gave their lives on one of the nation’s darkest days.

Sunday’s ceremony occurred a little more than a year after Biden ended the long and0 costly war in Afghanistan that the U.S. and allies launched in response to the terror attacks.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Ukrainian forces made “significant gains” against Russian positions in the past 24 hours.

Kiev Kyiv Ukraine Flag
Kiev Kyiv Ukraine Flag

Ukraine’s armed forces have recaptured large swaths of territory and are making “significant gains” against Russia’s occupation of the northwest region of Kharkiv, the U.K.’s defense ministry said in an intelligence briefing Sunday.

Russian forces have likely “withdrawn units from the area,” but fighting continues around the strategically important cities of Kupiansk and Izyum, it said in its daily update on the war in Ukraine, posted to Twitter.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast F 9-9-22

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King Charles III to address a nation in mourning after queen’s death

UK Britain Flag Union Jack
UK Britain Flag Union Jack

Britain’s new monarch, King Charles III, will address the nation Friday as it mourns the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

On his first full day of duties, the king is expected to return to London for a meeting with the U.K.’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, herself new to the job after being appointed earlier this week.

As Britain begins a 10-day mourning period, the country and the world are paying tribute to the queen as huge crowds flock to Buckingham Palace.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

DOJ to appeal special master ruling, arguing classified documents aren’t Trump’s ‘personal records’

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

The hundreds of pages of classified government records seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last month aren’t the former president’s “personal records,” and he has no right to possess them, the Justice Department said in a court filing Thursday as it said the government would appeal a judge’s ruling on the matter.

The Justice Department will appeal U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling for a special master to look at the documents seized during the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, according to the notification filed Thursday. The Justice Department said it will file its appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Steve Bannon charged with money laundering, conspiracy in ‘We Build the Wall’ fundraising fraud case

Steve Bannon
Steve bannon

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was charged Thursday in New York with defrauding donors who were giving money to build a wall at the southern U.S. border.

Bannon, 68, was indicted on charges including money laundering, scheming to defraud, and conspiracy in what prosecutors described as a yearlong scheme. He pleaded not guilty in a brief arraignment before acting Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan and agreed to surrender his passports as a condition of his bail. Supreme Court is the name of New York’s principal criminal court.

“He’s not going anywhere. He intends to fight these charges all the way,” Bannon’s attorney David Schoen told the judge.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest serving monarch, has died

Queen Elizabeth Royal UK
Queen Elizabeth Royal UK

Queen Elizabeth II, whose 70-year reign spanned wars, a pandemic, 14 U.S. presidents and the winding down of Britain’s vast empire, has died. Her eldest son, Charles, is now king. 

“The queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon,” the royal family said in a statement. “The king and the queen consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow.”

The longest-serving British monarch was 96.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 9-8-22

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Trump Told Advisers He Needed to Save ‘Russiagate’ Docs so Biden Wouldn’t ‘Shred’ Them: Report

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

Former President Donald Trump reportedly told those close to him he intended to preserve documents related to the Russian collusion investigation, as he feared his White House successor would destroy them.

The investigation dated back to 2016 and centered on allegations people in Trump’s orbit worked with Russians to help him win the election.

According to Rolling Stone, Trump worried the investigation would return to haunt him, and documents about it would not be preserved by then-President-elect Joe Biden in January of 2020.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Judge nixes Oath Keepers leader’s bid to delay Jan. 6 trial

gavel courtroom trial
gavel courtroom trial

The high-profile seditious conspiracy trial for the leader of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group will begin this month after a judge on Wednesday rejected a last-minute bid by Stewart Rhodes to replace his lawyers and delay his Capitol riot case.

Rhodes said in court papers this week there had been a “breakdown” in communication between him and his two lawyers, who he claimed weren’t defending him forcefully enough. Rhodes’ new lawyer argued that the Oath Keepers founder has not been given enough time to adequately prepare for trial and urged the judge to delay his trial at least 90 days.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Trump aide subpoenaed, FBI seeks interview related to Jan. 6 investigations: Sources

capitol riot insurrection
capitol riot insurrection

The FBI sought to interview a current top adviser to former President Donald Trump who has also been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury, both in relation to investigations into the events leading up to and on Jan. 6, 2021, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

William Russell wasn’t home when the two FBI agents came to his house Wednesday morning, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Russell served in the Trump White House as a special assistant to the president and the deputy director of advance before moving down to Florida to work as an aide to Trump after he left the White House.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Obamas return to the White House for the unveiling of their official portraits

Barack Michelle Obama Obamas
Barack Michelle Obama Obamas

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama returned to the White House on Wednesday for the unveiling of their official portraits, reviving the bipartisan tradition that stalled under the Trump administration.

“Barack and Michelle, welcome home,” President Joe Biden said at a ceremony in the East Room celebrating the former first couple.

The White House Historical Association has facilitated acquiring portraits of presidents and first ladies since 1965. Most presidents and first ladies select artists before they leave office, according to the association. Once completed, the portraits are displayed in the White House.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast W 9-7-22

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California Independent System Operator issues emergency alert as record heat wave puts strain on state’s electrical grid

Electricity power grid lines
Electricity power grid lines infrastructure

A record-setting heat wave made life miserable in much of the West on Tuesday, with California stretching into its second week of excessive heat that taxed the state’s power supply and threatened power shortages that could prompt blackouts while people were desperately trying to stay cool.

The California Independent System Operator (ISO), the entity that oversees the state’s electrical grid, upgradedits Energy Emergency Alert level from 2 to 3, making power outages possible. It had earlier warned there could be “rotating power outages” Tuesday evening. 

“As grid conditions worsened, energy supplies were determined to be insufficient to cover demand and reserves,” Cal ISO said Tuesday evening.  

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

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Covid vaccines will likely become annual like flu shots, White House officials say

Syringe Vaccine Shot Vial
Syringe Vaccine Shot Vial

Covid vaccinations will likely become an annual affair, White House officials said Tuesday, with a schedule resembling that of flu shots.

“In the absence of a dramatically different variants, we likely are moving towards a path with a vaccination cadence similar to that of the annual influenza vaccine, with annual updated Covid-19 shots matched to the currently circulating strains for most of the population,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a White House briefing.

The reasoning behind this expectation, according to Fauci and White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha, has to do with improved protection from newly updated Covid booster shots.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Surveillance video shows Georgia ‘fake elector’ escorting operatives into elections office before alleged data breach

vote ballot election
vote ballot

Newly obtained video shows the former head of Coffee County Republicans escorting members of a forensics firm hired by a Trump-allied lawyer into a Georgia elections office shortly before an alleged data breach in January 2021.

The video, which was obtained by NBC News, shows Cathy Latham, the chairwoman of the Coffee County GOP at the time, greeting and escorting members of the tech firm SullivanStrickler into the office on Jan. 7, 2021, the same day as a data breach that is under investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The video shows scenes only from outside the office.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Steve Bannon expected to surrender to New York prosecutors Thursday: Sources

Steve Bannon
Steve bannon

Steve Bannon, former adviser to former President Donald Trump, is expected to surrender to prosecutors in New York on Thursday, sources familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

The details of the charges are unclear, however, the sources confirmed to ABC News that the charges brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office stem from the federal prosecution of Bannon over “We Build the Wall,” an online fundraising campaign for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In the federal case, Bannon was accused of defrauding donors and using the money for personal expenses.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

StephCast T 9-6-22

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Trump calls Biden ‘enemy of the state’ during 1st rally since Mar-a-Lago search

In his first rally since the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home last month, former President Donald Trump took the stage in Pennsylvania for nearly two hours during which he responded to the raid on his home last month and President Joe Biden’s remarks earlier this week.

“The shameful raid and break-in of my home Mar-a-Lago was a travesty of justice,” Trump said of the search. “The FBI and the Justice Department have become vicious monsters.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

California braces for possible power outages as temperatures again break triple digits in relentless heat wave

Electricity power grid lines
Electricity power grid lines infrastructure

California is facing worsening grid challenges and bracing for possible power outages as temperatures again surged into the triple digits Monday.

The California Independent System Operator, or CAISO, which oversees more than three-quarters of the state’s electrical power flow, called for residents in a news release “to lower electricity use in the afternoons and evenings to avoid outages” in the historic heat wave.

“We have now entered the most intense phase of this heat wave,” the operator’s president and CEO, Elliot Mainzer, said at a news conference Monday, giving an update on the heat wave and grid reliability. “Forecasted demand for Monday and Tuesday is at all-time record levels. Potential for rotating outages has increased significantly.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

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Biden takes his case to two swing states for Labor Day in midterms push

Biden speech flag
Biden speech flag

President Joe Biden kicked off a Labor Day tour of two battleground states with rousing speeches in Milwaukee and Pittsburgh, where he touted his recent wins in Washington, denounced Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump and took specific aim at Sen. Ron Johnson.

“This guy never stops,” Biden said of Johnson, R-Wis., referring to recent positions Johnson has taken.

“But guess what? I ain’t stopping, either,” Biden said to a raucous round of applause.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Judge grants Trump’s special master request, delays parts of criminal probe

gavel courtroom trial
gavel courtroom trial

In a major blow for the government, a federal judge approved former President Donald Trump’s request for a special master to oversee all the evidence the FBI seized last month from his Mar-a-Lago estate and temporarily blocked parts of the Justice Department’s investigation.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon — a Trump appointee — said in her ruling Monday that the special master should be able to review the seized documents both to address questions of attorney-client privilege and to litigate claims of executive privilege.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Charlie Pierce: Empty Folders at Mar-a-Lago Marked ‘Classified’? I’m Sure It’s Fine

Charlie Pierce Esquire
Charlie Pierce Esquire

We seem to be getting closer faster to the moment where we see classified photos of U.S. nuclear weapons labs framed and on the wall of the royal palace in Riyadh. From the AP (via madison.com):

FBI agents who searched former President Donald Trump’s Florida home last month found empty folders marked with classified banners, according to a more detailed inventory of the seized material made public by the Justice Department on Friday. The inventory reveals in general terms the contents of 33 boxes taken from Mar-a-Lago during the Aug. 8 search. It shows the extent to which newspapers, magazines and other items were commingled among documents that investigators say were marked as classified, including at the top-secret level.

Empty folders marked as classified, you say? Provocative.

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics.

The Rude Pundit: Dark Brandon Ascending… Random Observations on a Patriotic Speech

1. There are a few criticisms to be made about President Joe Biden’s speech in Philadelphia last night. For instance, when he said, “Not every Republican, not even the majority of Republicans, are MAGA Republicans.  Not every Republican embraces their extreme ideology,” he’s really talking the difference between someone who comes to your house and murders everyone and someone who comes to your house, murders everyone, fucks the corpses, and sets the place on fire. Sure, the latter is way worse, but, you know, in the former, you’re still murdered. 

Yeah, one way to look at that is Biden offering the supposedly “mainstream Republicans” a lifeboat from the Trumptanic before it smashes into the iceberg of reality and sinks into the depths of the brutal ocean of history. That lets Republicans off the hook for a whole lot of fuckery. While the “MAGA Republicans do not respect the Constitution.  They do not believe in the rule of law.  They do not recognize the will of the people,” it’s not like pre-Trump Republicans were handing out daisies across the aisle. What was the Republican Senate’s use of the formerly rare filibuster as a regular tool to block legislation starting with Barack Obama’s administration but another way to thwart the will of the people when they voted in Democratic majorities in Congress? Yeah, it’s not the same as overturning an election because the results make you feel sad. But it’s not that fucking far off. 

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

SMHH VideoCast with Jaime Harrison & Frank Figliuzzi

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StephCast F 9-2-22

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McCarthy calls on Biden to apologize after ‘semi-fascism’ remark

Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday called on President Joe Biden to apologize for invoking fascism to describe the ideology of former President Donald Trump and his supporters.

McCarthy made the remarks during a prebuttal speech ahead of the President’s prime-time address later in the evening. The speech from the House GOP leader marks an effort to counter the President’s message — ahead of the 2022 midterms as Republicans fight to win back control of the House of Representatives.
 
“President Biden has chosen to divide, demean, and disparage his fellow Americans — Why? simply because they disagree with his policies,” McCarthy said in his speech. “That is not leadership.”
 

Federal judge puts off ruling on Trump’s request for a special master as Trump lawyer calls refusal to turn over documents ‘an overdue-library-book scenario’

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

US District Judge Aileen Cannon heard arguments Thursday related to former President Donald Trump’s request that a special master be appointed to sift through and filter out any materials seized in the Mar-a-Lago search that could be privileged.

After the nearly two-hour hearing, in which an attorney for Trump downplayed the former president’s communications with the National Archives, Cannon said she would not yet rule on Trump’s request and wanted to take more time to consider national security and privilege issues raised by the Justice Department and the former president’s defense lawyers.

Read the rest of the story at Yahoo News

Jan. 6 panel seeks testimony from Newt Gingrich about 2020 election claims

Newt Gingrich
Newt Gingrich

The Jan. 6 committee is requesting testimony from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an ally of former President Donald Trump, over his involvement in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, including on the day of the riot.

In a letter sent Thursday, the committee specifically said it wants to ask Gingrich, R-Ga., about emails it said it obtained between him and former Trump senior advisers, including Jared Kushner and Jason Miller, in which Gingrich gave his input about television ads that “repeated and relied upon false claims about fraud in the 2020 election.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Biden attacks Trump, MAGA Republicans as a threat to democracy in blistering speech

Biden speech flag
Biden speech flag

President Joe Biden accused former President Donald Trump and his supporters of promoting an extreme ideology that threatens democracy in rare prime-time remarks Thursday as he stepped up attacks on conservatives ahead of the midterm elections. 

“Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal. Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic,” Biden said in the speech from the Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 9-1-22

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John Eastman, Key Figure In Fake Elector Plot, Appears Before Atlanta Grand Jury

gavel courtroom trial
gavel courtroom trial

John Eastman, a key figure in the effort to block the certification of the 2020 Electoral College results, appeared before an Atlanta grand jury on Wednesday, his lawyers said.

Eastman’s attorneys, Harvey Silverglate and Charles Burnham, said they advised him to assert attorney-client privilege and invoke his Fifth Amendment rights. The pair would not disclose what questions were posed or what testimony Eastman gave, but lambasted the effort as a means to penalize “disfavored legal theories.”

“By all indications, the District Attorney’s Office has set itself on an unprecedented path of criminalizing controversial or disfavored legal theories, possibly in hopes that the federal government will follow its lead,” the attorneys wrote. “Criminalization of unpopular legal theories is against every American tradition and would have ended the careers of John Adams, Ruth Ginsburg, Thurgood Marshall and many other now-celebrated American lawyers.”

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

Serena Williams upsets No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit to advance to third round of U.S. Open

Tennis Ball
Tennis Ball

Serena Williams can call it “evolving” or “retiring” or whatever she wants. And she can be coy about whether or not this U.S. Open will actually mark the end of her playing days. Those 23 Grand Slam titles earned that right.

If she keeps playing like this, who knows how long this farewell will last?

No matter what happens once her trip to Flushing Meadows is over, here is what is important to know after Wednesday night: The 40-year-old Williams is still around, she’s still capable of terrific tennis, she’s still winning – and, like the adoring spectators whose roars filled Arthur Ashe Stadium again – she’s ready for more.

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Democrat Mary Peltola defeats Sarah Palin in special election for Alaska’s House seat

Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin

Democrat Mary Peltola is projected to win the Alaska special general election for the state’s sole House seat, ABC News reports.

Peltola defeated two Republicans — former Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich — and will be the first Democrat to represent the state in the House in nearly half a century, succeeding Rep. Don Young, who died in March.

Peltola will also be the first Alaska Native to represent the state in Congress.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Trump’s legal team responds to DOJ in dispute over review of seized records; Court hearing today

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

Lawyers for former President Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to the Justice Department in the dispute over Trump’s request for a “special master” to review materials the FBI seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump’s lawyers have argued to a federal judge in Florida that the review is needed to deal with matters they argue could be covered by executive privilege.

Late Tuesday, the Justice Department, ahead of a court hearing Thursday, laid out in extraordinary detail DOJ’s efforts to obtain highly classified records they allege were improperly stored at Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s departure from the White House, and the resistance — which they describe outright as obstructive conduct, that they were met with by Trump’s representatives in their efforts to have them handed over.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

StephCast W 8-31-22

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Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet leader who helped end the Cold War, has died

Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union and a reformer who helped end the Cold War and lead his country from communism to capitalism, died Tuesday at 91, according to the Gorbachev Foundation.

“Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev died this evening after a serious and long illness,” the Central Clinical Hospital reported, according to the Interfax news agency.

He will be buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow next to his wife, Raisa Gorbachev, according to the agency.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Graham faces backlash after claiming violence could break out if Trump prosecuted

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is facing backlash after claiming political violence will break out if former President Donald Trump is indicted for mishandling presidential records.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday, while not mentioning Graham by name, appeared to call him out at a political rally in Pennsylvania, saying, “the idea you turn on a television and see senior senators and congressmen saying if such and such happens, there’ll be blood in the street. Where the hell are we?”

Graham’s comments came at a time when Trump supporters’ threats against law enforcement have escalated following the Mar-a-Lago search and at least one man citing it attacked an FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was later killed by police.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Biden calls out ‘MAGA Republicans’ on Jan. 6, attacking FBI over Mar-a-Lago search

President Joe Biden continued his sharpened attacks on the Republican Party as he visited Pennsylvania on Tuesday, criticizing “MAGA Republicans” for their response to the Mar-a-Lago search and Jan. 6 as he highlighted his administration’s policing and crime prevention efforts.

“A safer America requires all of us to uphold the rule of law, not the rule of any one party or any one person,” Biden said as he spoke at Wilkes University.

“Let me say this to my MAGA Republican friends in Congress: Don’t tell me you support law enforcement if you won’t condemn what happened on Jan. 6,” he continued. “For God’s sake, whose side are you on?”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

DOJ alleges ‘obstructive conduct’ by Trump’s legal team in efforts to retrieve classified records

The Justice Department on Tuesday responded to former President Donald Trump’s call for a “special master” to review materials the FBI seized at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Trump’s lawyers have said the review is needed to deal with matters they argue may be covered by executive privilege.

In their 36-page filing, top department officials laid out in extraordinary detail their efforts to obtain highly classified records they allege were improperly stored at Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s departure from the White House, and the resistance — which they describe outright as obstructive conduct, that they were met with by Trump’s representatives in their efforts to have them handed over.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

StephCast T 8-30-22

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Charlie Pierce: What Happens When an Entire Party Reorients Around a Central Delusion? We’re Gonna Find Out!

It’s going to take decades of excavation to dig out the crazy in our politics. If it weren’t so entrenched in conservative politics already, the previous president* wouldn’t have found it so easy to anchor himself in the past, present and especially the future of the Republican Party.

And it’s clear that expressing the (unfactual) conviction that the 2020 election was rigged to defeat the previous president* as enthusiastically as possible is the best possible career move for a Republican politician. (Ringing the Jesus bell also helps.)

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics

Brian Kemp must testify in Trump election interference probe, Georgia judge rules

georgia

A Georgia judge on Monday denied Gov. Brian Kemp’s bid to avoid testifying before the grand jury hearing evidence in an investigation of possible 2020 election interference by then-President Donald Trump and others but said he doesn’t have to testify until after the November election.

“The governor is in the midst of a re-election campaign and this criminal grand jury investigation should not be used by the District Attorney, the Governor’s opponent, or the Governor himself to influence the outcome of that election,” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his six-page ruling. “Once the election is over, the Court expects the Governor’s legal team promptly to make arrangements for his appearance.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

DOJ tells judge it has completed review of possible attorney-client privileged materials seized from Mar-a-Lago

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

The Justice Department on Monday said its team tasked with identifying potential attorney-client privileged materials that were seized in the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this month has already completed its review and is in the process of addressing possible privilege disputes.

In a filing acknowledging receipt of District Judge Aileen Cannon’s order Saturday, which indicated she was leaning towards granting a request from Trump’s legal team to appoint a special master to intervene in the ongoing review of documents seized from Mar-a-Lago, the department said its filter team already “identified a limited set of materials that potentially contain attorney-client privileged information.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Biden to deliver prime-time speech on ‘battle’ for democracy

President Joe Biden Flags Speech
President Joe Biden Flags Speech

President Joe Biden will deliver a prime-time address “on the continued battle for the soul of the nation” Thursday outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the White House announced Monday.

Billed as a major address just over two months before the midterm elections, Biden, the White House said, will discuss how the nation’s standing in the world and its democracy are at stake.

“He will talk about the progress we have made as a nation to protect our democracy, but how our rights and freedoms are still under attack,” the White House said. “And he will make clear who is fighting for those rights, fighting for those freedoms, and fighting for our democracy.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Here are the signs Republicans’ hopes for a ‘red wave’ are receding ahead of the 2022 elections

capitol Washington DC
capitol Washington DC

Last fall, Republicans held high hopes of a “red wave” in the 2022 elections after they stormed to power in blue-leaning Virginia and nearly won the governor’s race in New Jersey. While Democrats were demotivated, the GOP base was on fire.

But in recent weeks, numerous data points have indicated Republican prospects of a smashing victory are dimming. While the president’s party tends to perform poorly in midterm elections, there are signs it is shaping up to be an unusual year, potentially enabling Democrats to hold one or both chambers of Congress.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast M 8-29-22

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Trump’s Inner Circle is Freaking Out Over Their ‘Comically Inept and Inexperienced’ Legal Team

Trump Dumb
Trump Dumb

Any public bluster from former President Donald Trump and his team in the wake of the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago is just posturing, says one top correspondent.

Appearing on ABC’s This Week Sunday, Jonathan Karl reported that Trump’s inner circle is freaking out over the former president’s inability to retain adequate legal counsel.

“Publicly, what they’re saying is this is rallying Republicans to Trump’s defense,” Karl said. “This makes it more likely that he will run for president, more likely that he will win the Republican nomination. Campaigning against this political action by the FBI and the DOJ.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Intelligence officials assessing national security risk from documents found at Mar-a-Lago

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

Intelligence officials are assessing the potential risk to national security after classified documents were found at former President Donald Trump’s Florida residence.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines sent a letter Friday to top lawmakers in Congress confirming the assessment is underway, a spokesperson for the agency told ABC News.

The letter, addressed to the House Oversight Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff, was first reported by Politico.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Judge signals support for special master to review some Trump records FBI seized

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

A Florida federal judge Saturday indicated she was inclined to appoint a special master to review some of the documents the FBI seized earlier this month from former President Donald Trump’s Florida home as part of a national-security-related criminal investigation.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, did not issue a blanket order for the special master but instead said she had a “preliminary intent” to do so after hearing arguments she scheduled for Thursday in her West Palm Beach court room.

The Justice Department did not comment.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast F 8-26-22

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Biden hits the campaign trail to tout a string of political wins

Biden speech flag
Biden speech flag

President Joe Biden hit the campaign trail on Thursday to highlight a series of policy wins as Democrats look to keep their narrow majorities in Congress during this fall’s elections.

“I just want to be crystal clear on what’s on the ballot this year,” he said at a Democratic National Committee rally in front of a friendly Rockville, Maryland, crowd as he underscored what he felt should be on voters’ minds in November: abortion rights, Social Security, climate change and more.

“Your right to choose is on the ballot this year. The Social Security you paid for from the time you had a job is on the ballot,” he said. “The safety of your kids from gun violence is on the ballot. And it’s not hyperbole — the very survival of our planet is on the ballot. Your right to vote is on the ballot.”

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

White House shines light on Republicans who are criticizing student debt cancelation after getting their PPP loans forgiven

Marjorie Taylor Greene
Marjorie Taylor Greene

The White House hit back at Republicans in an uncharacteristic manner Thursday by using its Twitter account to go after GOP lawmakers who are bashing President Joe Biden’s move to cancel some student debt after they personally benefited from having Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven during the Covid pandemic.

In a series of tweets, the White House highlighted several congressional Republicans — Reps. Vern Buchanan of Florida, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, and Markwayne Mullin and Kevin Hern of Oklahoma — who it said had tens of thousands of dollars in PPP loans forgiven as part of a federal program intended to help those harmed by the coronavirus.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Judge orders a redacted version of the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit be made public Friday

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

A redacted version of the affidavit used to secure the search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate is set to be unsealed Friday under a judge’s order.

The Justice Department submitted its proposed redactions to the document on Thursday, prompting the judge to agree to unseal the document on Friday by noon.

The search warrant affidavit had led U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart to find probable cause that evidence of crimes would be found at Mar-a-Lago ahead of the Aug. 8 raid. The document lays out the justification for the Aug. 8 search of Mar-a-Lago by FBI special agents, though it is unclear how much will be redacted.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 8-25-22

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Archives asked for records in 2021 after Trump lawyer agreed they should be returned, email says

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

About two dozen boxes of presidential records stored in then-President Donald Trump’s White House residence were not returned to the National Archives and Records Administration in the final days of his term even after Archives officials were told by a Trump lawyer that the documents should be given back, according to an email from the top lawyer at the record-keeping agency.

“It is also our understanding that roughly two dozen boxes of original presidential records were kept in the Residence of the White House over the course of President Trump’s last year in office and have not been transferred to NARA, despite a determination by Pat Cipollone in the final days of the administration that they need to be,” wrote Gary Stern, the agency’s chief counsel, in an email to Trump lawyers in May 2021, according to a copy reviewed by The Washington Post.

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post

DOJ releases unredacted memo to Barr on Trump, obstruction in Mueller probe

Attorney General Bill Barr
Attorney General Bill Barr

The Justice Department on Wednesday released the unredacted version of a 2019 memo that made the case to then-Attorney General William Barr that President Donald Trump should not be charged with obstruction of justice in the Russia investigation.

The nine-page memo, from March 24, 2019, was written by Steven Engel, then the assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel, and Ed O’Callaghan, who was the Justice Department’s principal associate deputy attorney general. Barr, a critic of then-special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, announced that the Justice Department would not prosecute the case the same day the memo was sent to him.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo fired over botched response to shooting that killed 19 students and 2 teachers

blue light police siren

Uvalde schools police chief Pete Arredondo was fired Wednesday by the Texas city’s school board.

The board voted unanimously to oust the embattled chief after a recommendation from the school district superintendent.

Arredondo’s removal caps three months of outrage over the botched law enforcement response to the shooting at Robb Elementary School, which killed 19 children and two teachers.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Biden to cancel up to $10K in federal student loan debt for certain borrowers and up to $20K for Pell Grant recipients

college university graduation
college university graduation

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that he will cancel $10,000 in federal student loans for millions of borrowers, following through on a campaign promise to address the burden of student debt.

Borrowers who earn less than $125,000 a year, or $250,000 for couples who file taxes jointly, will be eligible for debt cancellation. Pell Grant recipients, who make up the majority of student loan borrowers, will be eligible for an additional $10,000 in debt relief, for a total of $20,000.

Biden is also extending the pause on federal student loan payments for a final time through Dec. 31. It had previously been scheduled to expire Aug. 31.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 8-24-22

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After Delay, Biden Readies Student Loan Help, Payment Pause

Graduation Cap College High School
Graduation Cap College High School

President Joe Biden on Wednesday is set to announce his long-delayed move to forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loans for many Americans and extend a pause on payments to January, according to three people familiar with the plan.

Biden has faced pressure from liberals to provide broader relief to hard-hit borrowers, and from moderates and Republicans questioning the fairness of any widespread forgiveness. The delay in Biden’s decision has only heightened the anticipation for what his own aides acknowledge represents a political no-win situation. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Biden’s intended announcement ahead of time.

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

Dr. Oz’s campaign jabs at John Fetterman for stroke, suggesting he brought it on himself

medicine doctor stethoscope
medicine doctor stethoscope

The Pennsylvania Senate race took a heated — and personal — turn on Tuesday as an aide to Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican nominee and former cardiothoracic surgeon who for years offered medical advice as a popular TV host, was quoted derisively blaming Democratic opponent John Fetterman for his own stroke.

“If John Fetterman had ever eaten a vegetable in his life, then maybe he wouldn’t have had a major stroke and wouldn’t be in the position of having to lie about it constantly,” Oz communications adviser Rachel Tripp said in a statement, first reported by Insider, responding to Fetterman’s attacks on Oz as elitist and out of touch.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Democrats gain momentum: 5 takeaways from the last big primary night of 2022

Vote Election Ballot
Vote Election Ballot

A New York special election seen as the last, best test of the electorate’s midterm leanings confirmed what Democrats hoped and Republicans feared: Predictions of a red wave may be overblown.

To be sure, Donald Trump had a winning night. But so did Ron DeSantis, who demonstrated Trump isn’t the only Republican in Florida with a political machine.

Primaries in four more states, including New Hampshire, are yet to come. But Tuesday marked the last of the year’s major, multi-state contests, leaving the shape of the general election landscape all but complete.

Read the rest of the story at Politico

StephCast T 8-23-22

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Fauci plans to step down in December after half a century in government

fauci
fauci

Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s preeminent infectious-disease expert who achieved unprecedented fame while enduring withering political attacks as the face of the coronavirus pandemic response under two presidents, plans to step down in December after more than a half-century of public service, he announced Monday.

Fauci, 81, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. He joined the parent agency, the National Institutes of Health, in 1968 as a 27-year-old doctor who had just finished medical residency and was quickly identified as a rising star. Most recently, Fauci has also served as President Biden’s chief medical adviser since the start of his administration.

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post

Justice Department investigating Arkansas officers’ use of force in arrest caught on video

arkansas
arkansas

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Monday that the U.S. attorney general’s office and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division will investigate a viral video that shows law enforcement officers holding down and beating a man Sunday morning outside a convenience store in Mulberry, Arkansas.

The three officers were suspended Sunday following widespread outrage over the video, in which one of the officers repeatedly punches a shoeless man’s head and smashes it into the pavement, while another knees him and a third holds him down.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Donald Trump asks judge to review ‘shockingly aggressive’ Mar-a-Lago search

Former President Donald Trump asked a judge Monday to order the appointment of a special master to oversee the handling of the documents seized in the search of his Mar-a-Lago estate two weeks ago.

The court filing also asks the judge to require the Justice Department to return materials not covered by the scope of the search warrant, which Trump’s team refers to as “overbroad.” The filing also calls the Justice Department’s decision to search the estate in Palm Beach, Florida, on Aug. 8 a “shockingly aggressive move.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump Had More Than 300 Classified Documents at Mar-a-Lago

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

The initial batch of documents retrieved by the National Archives from former President Donald J. Trump in January included more than 150 marked as classified, a number that ignited intense concern at the Justice Department and helped trigger the criminal investigation that led F.B.I. agents to swoop into Mar-a-Lago this month seeking to recover more, multiple people briefed on the matter said.

In total, the government has recovered more than 300 documents with classified markings from Mr. Trump since he left office, the people said: that first batch of documents returned in January, another set provided by Mr. Trump’s aides to the Justice Department in June and the material seized by the F.B.I. in the search this month.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Charlie Pierce: The Press’s Fealty to Both-Sidesism Means It Can’t Stop Falling for Trump’s B.S.

Charlie Pierce Esquire
Charlie Pierce Esquire

On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart—who has spent a couple weeks in hiding because he signed off on the search warrant on the Tacky Palace that produced the Pool Shed Papers—produced a temporizing decision on whether to release the affidavit on which the warrant was based.

From NPR:

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart ruled the DOJ must turn over the redacted version by next Thursday at noon. The affidavit will remain sealed during any appeals, he said. Reinhart also unsealed more minor documents containing general information at the hearing. The Justice Department argued during a hearing on Thursday afternoon that redacting the affidavit would leave no information of substance to release, and noted that the search itself and release of the warrant last week had created a volatile situation leading to death threats against FBI agents.

So Reinhart ruled that the Feds should have a week to work on the affidavit with their black Sharpies before he decides whether to make public whatever’s left in them.

Read the rest of Charlie Pierce’s piece at Esquire Politics

Rude Pundit: Ron DeSantis Is Not Your New Trump, But He Is a…

The Rude Pundit
The Rude Pundit

Cunt. He’s a cunt. If I put that in the title, someone would report it somewhere, but we’re all presumably adult(ish) here, so I’ll say it clearly: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a total, irredeemable cunt and every word out of his cunty mouth is filled with cuntishness. Sure, sure, you can have a delicate sensibility and call him a “dick” or “prick” or “asshole.” But those insults don’t capture the feeling of seeing and listening to Ron DeSantis quite as viscerally as “cunt.” 

Honestly, there would be no reason to discuss the nature of DeSantis’s cuntery were it not for all the talk about him being the most viable non-Trump candidate for the Republican nominee for president in 2024, with some seeing him as even more viable than Trump because he’s not (yet) tainted by the scandals and barrage of lying and braying egotism that Trump has hanging over him. I’ll get to why that’s bullshit in a few. But let’s just explore some of DeSantis’s recent words and actions in order to get the full measure of his cuntocity. 

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

StephCast M 8-22-22

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NBC News poll: 57% of voters say investigations into Trump should continue

A clear majority of American voters believe that the various investigations into alleged wrongdoing by former President Donald Trump should continue, according to a national NBC News poll conducted after the FBI searched Trump’s Florida home and recovered  documents marked as “top secret” earlier this month. 

The poll also shows a dissatisfied public, with three-quarters of voters saying the county is headed in the wrong direction, a record 58% who say that America’s best years are behind it and 61% who say they’re willing to carry a protest sign for a day because they’re so upset.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Democratic Senate campaign fundraising outpaces GOP for fourth straight month

dollars money bills
dollars money bills

The committee tasked with electing more Democrats to the Senate is reporting a $10 million haul in July, outpacing its Republican counterpart for the fourth month in a row, according to numbers first released to NBC News. 

With less than three months until the November elections, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee appears to be in a more formidable financial position, with $54.1 million cash on hand, well more than double the $23 million left in the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s account. 

The NRSC reported about $8 million in fundraising in July. 

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Sen. Lindsey Graham wins temporary reprieve from testifying in Georgia probe of Trump

An appeals court put on hold Sen. Lindsey Graham’s scheduled testimony for Tuesday before a grand jury in Georgia probing efforts by Donald Trump to overturn the former president’s 2020 election defeat, with the case returning to a lower court for another look.

A federal judge on Monday had rejected Graham’s challenge to the subpoena to testify before the grand jury. Graham, R-S.C, had argued his position as a U.S. senator provided him immunity from having to appear before the investigative panel.

Sunday’s order by the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals comes as a temporary reprieve for Graham who otherwise would have had to testify on Tuesday.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

SMHH VideoCast with Ben Gleib 8-19-22

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StephCast F 8-19-22

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Trump appeals ruling backing IRS release of tax returns to House to full DC Circuit

Former President Donald Trump asked the full bench of the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals to review a recent appellate panel ruling okaying the Internal Revenue Service’s release of Trump’s tax returns to a House committee.

The DC Circuit panel made “made several errors” in its ruling in favor of the House, Trump said in the new filing Thursday.
 
“The decision here will control future disputes between Congress and the Executive— including those of sitting Presidents — almost all of which arise in this circuit,” Trump said. “The Court should grant the petition.”
 

Judge partially blocks DeSantis’ anti-‘woke’ law

A federal judge in Florida on Thursday ruled that a law pushed by Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis restricting conversations around race in schools and the workplace is unconstitutional.

In a 44-page ruling blocking enforcement of parts of the law, US District Judge Mark Walker said that Florida’s Individual Freedom Act (IFA), better known as the “Stop WOKE Act,” “discriminates on the basis of viewpoint in violation of the First Amendment and is impermissibly vague in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”
 
The law, which took effect on July 1, is a key component of DeSantis’ war on “woke ideology,” and was intended to prevent teachings or mandatory workplace activities that suggest a person is privileged or oppressed based necessarily on their race, color, sex or national origin.
 

2022 ELECTION McConnell says Republicans may not win Senate control, citing ‘candidate quality’

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday downplayed expectations of Republicans capturing control of the Senate in the fall elections, describing “candidate quality” as an important factor.

“I think there’s probably a greater likelihood the House flips than the Senate. Senate races are just different — they’re statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome,” he said in Florence, Kentucky, at a Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce luncheon when asked about his projection for the 2022 election.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Judge says he’s inclined to unseal parts of Mar-a-Lago search affidavit, orders government to submit redactions

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

A federal judge on Thursday said he is inclined to unseal at least some of the probable cause affidavit used to secure a search of former President Donald Trump‘s Florida estate and ordered the government to submit proposed redactions.

“On my initial careful review … there are portions of it that can be unsealed,” Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart said after a hearing where a top government lawyer contended the document’s release could jeopardize an investigation that is still in its “early stages.”

In a written ruling after the hearing, Reinhart said, “I find that on the present record the Government has not met its burden of showing that the entire affidavit should remain sealed.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 8-18-22

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Pence says he would consider testifying before the Jan. 6 committee

Mike Pence
Mike Pence

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he would consider testifying before the House Jan. 6 committee if invited to appear, but he suggested he would need to sort out thorny constitutional questions before committing.

“If ever any formal invitation were rendered to us, we’d give it due consideration,” he said, in reply to a question posed to him at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics’ “Politics & Eggs” series.

Afterward, a spokeswoman for the House committee declined to comment on whether it plans to ask Pence to appear. In a recent interview with NBC News, the committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said both Pence and former President Donald Trump “are on our agenda to be talked about as we meet.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Today’s hearing on unsealing the Mar-a-Lago search warrant affidavit to put DOJ arguments on display

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

A federal judge in Florida has scheduled a hearing Thursday on whether to unseal the affidavit that federal investigators used to justify a search warrant for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home — a major point of contention between the government and the former president, his supporters and the news media.

The Department of Justice is arguing against unsealing the document for fear it could compromise an “ongoing criminal investigation” involving national security, while Trump and his Republican allies are calling the unprecedented search a major instance of government overreach and demanding the justification be made public. Several media companies, meanwhile, have urged the document be disclosed because of the public’s “clear and powerful interest in understanding what occurred in these circumstances.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

CDC director Rochelle Walensky announces shake-up of the organization, citing COVID mistakes

medicine doctor stethoscope
medicine doctor stethoscope

The head of the nation’s top public health agency on Wednesday announced a shake-up of the organization, saying it fell short responding to COVID-19 and needs to become more nimble.

The planned changes at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — CDC leaders call it a “reset”— come amid criticism of the agency’s response to COVID-19, monkeypox and other public health threats. The changes include internal staffing moves and steps to speed up data releases.

The CDC’s director, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, told the agency’s staff about the changes on Wednesday. It’s a CDC initiative, and was not directed by the White House or other administration officials, she said.

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg could be called to testify against company after pleading guilty in fraud case

Golden Gavel Court
Golden Gavel Court

Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg is expected to plead guilty Thursday to 15 counts of fraud and tax evasion, acknowledging that he was part of a scheme to receive more than $1.7 million in off-the-books perks and compensation.

Weisselberg was charged alongside two Trump Organization companies that prosecutors claim took part in the scheme, which allegedly benefited other company executives. The company has entered a not guilty plea and jury selection for its trial is scheduled for Oct. 24.

Prosecutors will ask a New York judge Friday to impose a sentence of five months incarceration for Weisselberg, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. 

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

StephCast W 8-17-22

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Updated COVID boosters could be available in 3 weeks, White House predicts

syringe vaccine shot
syringe vaccine shot

Newly updated COVID-19 boosters tailored to target a dominant strain of the virus will be available in the next three weeks or so, assuming the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work through their processes for authorization as expected.

That was White House COVID coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha’s prediction Tuesday at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

In late June, the FDA directed Moderna and Pfizer to make vaccines for the upcoming winter that targeted the more contagious BA.5 omicron subvariant, along with the original COVID strain. That work has been underway and the next step is for the FDA and CDC to review data from the companies, once they’ve received it.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Sarah Palin advances to November’s general election for Alaska’s House seat

Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has clinched one of four spots in November’s ranked-choice general election for the state’s at-large congressional seat, NBC News projects, keeping alive her hopes for a political comeback. 

She will be joined on the fall ballot by Republican Nick Begich, the namesake grandson of a former Democratic representative who held the seat, and Democrat Mary Sattler Peltola, a former state lawmaker. It was too early after polls closed to call the fourth and final contender.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Rep. Liz Cheney loses her primary in Wyoming to Trump-backed challenger

Liz Cheney
Liz Cheney

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., a onetime House GOP leader and a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was ousted in a Republican primary Tuesday night, NBC News projects.

Former President Donald Trump’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but his shadow eclipsed the contest as he sought revenge for Cheney’s vote last year to impeach him and her work on the committee investigating his behavior leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. His hand-picked challenger, Harriet Hageman, defeated Cheney in a multi-candidate race.

With 80% of the vote counted before midnight, Hageman was leading Cheney by more than 32 points. But the result didn’t put an end to hostilities between Trump and Cheney. Instead, she vowed to escalate them.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Biden signs major climate, health care and tax bill into law

Biden Speech
Biden Speech

President Joe Biden signed into law Tuesday a major Democratic spending bill that seeks to fight climate change, raise taxes on corporations and expand health care coverage.

The bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, is a major legislative achievement for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections. It passed the House and the Senate last week with the support of every Democrat and no Republicans.

“With this law, the American people won, and the special interests lost,” Biden said in remarks from the White House. “We didn’t tear down; we built up. We didn’t look back; we looked forward. And today offers further proof that the soul of America is vibrant.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast T 8-16-22

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Charlie Pierce: There Is No Darkness Republicans Won’t Follow Trump Into Now

Charlie Pierce Esquire
Charlie Pierce Esquire
Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976. He lives near Boston with his wife but no longer his three children.
 
It is an article of faith around the shebeen that the classification system employed by the United States government is as chewy a cluster of f*ck as exists anywhere concerning anything. The only thing keeping me from falling into a fugue state somewhere between joy and sheer terror is that, maybe, this newly revealed batch of Pool Shed Files were just some of that over-classified paperwork that parts of the government are drowning in.
 

Liz Cheney tries to hold on in today’s Wyoming primary reshaped by Trump

Liz Cheney
Liz Cheney

Six years ago, when Rep. Liz Cheney first ran for Wyoming’s lone House seat, Nicholas Houfek said he saw the long-time Virginia resident, who had purchased a home in Jackson Hole four years earlier, as a “carpetbagger.”

Now, Houfek, a registered Republican who works in real estate, is staunchly behind Cheney in Tuesday’s primary against Harriet Hageman and three other candidates.
 
He asked Cheney’s campaign for a yard sign, which he and his wife Payson Houfek proudly display in their front yard. The two said many of their Democratic friends in the area have switched their party registration to vote for Cheney.
 
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Rudy Giuliani informed he’s a target of probe into Trump’s alleged election interference in Georgia

Rudy Giuliani

Rudy Giuliani is a “target” of the criminal investigation into possible 2020 election interference in Georgia by former President Donald Trump and others, his attorney told NBC News.

The lawyer, Robert Costello, said that as part of their efforts to compel Giuliani’s testimony, Georgia prosecutors initially told New York courts that Giuliani was a material witness. Then, Costello said, Giuliani’s lawyers were informed Monday that he is a “target” of the probe.

Giuliani, Trump’s former personal attorney and the former mayor of New York City, was ordered last week to testify in person Wednesday before a grand jury handling the case.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Ex-Trump Org. official Allen Weisselberg expected to plead guilty in tax case

gavel courtroom trial
gavel courtroom trial

Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is expected to plead guilty to criminal charges tied to his indictment by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in an investigation of former President Donald Trump’s businesses, according to two people familiar with the matter and a public court filing.

Weisselberg’s plea could come as soon as 9 a.m. Thursday. Terms of the expected deal were not immediately disclosed.

Weisselberg and the Trump Organization were charged as part of what prosecutors described as an “off the books” scheme over 15 years to help top officials in the Trump Organization avoid paying taxes. Weisselberg, 74, was accused of avoiding paying taxes on $1.7 million of his income.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Justice Department asks judge to keep Trump’s search warrant affidavit sealed, citing investigation

justice court lawyer
justice court lawyer

Justice Department lawyers on Monday asked the judge who approved the search warrant for former President Donald Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago resort to keep the accompanying affidavit under seal, citing a need to protect witnesses and the ongoing investigation.

Federal prosecutors responded to inquiries from numerous news organizations, including NBC News, to make the affidavit public by arguing it should remain sealed “to protect the integrity of an ongoing law enforcement investigation that implicates national security.”

They also said the affidavit contains “highly sensitive information about witnesses, including witnesses interviewed by the government; specific investigative techniques; and information required by law to be kept under seal.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast M 8-15-22

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Sen. Rand Paul Aims To Repeal Espionage Act To Save Trump

Rand Paul
Rand Paul

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has called for the Espionage Act to be repealed just days after the Justice Department revealed that Donald Trump is under investigation for possibly violating the law.

“The Espionage Act was abused from the beginning to jail dissenters of WWI. It is long past time to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st Amendment,” tweeted Paul:

His tweet featured a photo of a young Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder who leaked a trove of Hillary Clinton and Democratic Party emails — with the help of Russian intelligence— shortly before the 2016 election, which was then won by Trump. (Trump offered to pardon to Assange if he denied Kremlin help with the leak, Assange’s lawyer said in 2020 in a London court.)

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

‘Great Simmering Anger!’ Trump Doubles Down on DOJ and FBI Attacks After Mar-a-Lago Raid

Six days after the raid at Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump is continuing to rage on his platform Truth Social, adding to the increasing criticism of the FBI and Justice Department since Monday.

The search warrant and inventory list from the former president’s estate were revealed to the public on Friday, showing that Trump could find himself in serious trouble, being investigated for multiple federal charges, including the Espionage Act. On Saturday, it was unearthed that a Trump lawyer signed a statement for the DOJ assuring that all classified material had been returned, two months before those documents were seized from Mar-a-Lago.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

House Democratic chairs request federal intelligence damage assessment after classified docs seized at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

Documents Papers Stack
Documents Papers Stack

The Democratic chairs of the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees have asked federal intelligence leadership for a congressional briefing and damage assessment after the FBI seized 11 sets of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home earlier this week.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney requested that Avril Haines, director of National Intelligence (DNI), conduct an immediate review following the extraordinary search of a former president’s home, according to a letter dated Saturday that was obtained by CNN. The DNI oversees the intelligence community in the executive branch.
 

FBI and DHS warn threats to federal law enforcement have spiked since Mar-a-Lago search

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have issued a joint intelligence bulletin warning of a spike in threats to federal law enforcement officials since the search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, two senior law enforcement officials told NBC News.

“The FBI and DHS have observed an increase in threats to federal law enforcement and to a lesser extent other law enforcement and government officials following the FBI’s recent execution of a search warrant in Palm Beach, Florida,” the document, dated Friday, reads, according to one official.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

The Rude Pundit: Note on Democratic Groups Helping Trump Republicans Win Primaries… So?

The Rude Pundit
The Rude Pundit

In one of the great “tut-tut” pieces in a while, the Editorial Board of the New York Times(motto: “We’re partly responsible for the Iraq War and Trump’s election, but you’ll still subscribe”) wrote that it was appalled by the idea that “Democratic Party groups have been elevating Big Lie proponents over their moderate Republican opponents all year.” They take great umbrage – umbrage, I say – that Democrats would dare attempt to give subversive support to the fucknuts and grifters who make coin and get votes by saying that Donald Trump really won the 2020 election and that a conspiracy involving at least a few hundred thousand people worked to keep him out of office. The idea, of course, is that in a general election, those fucknuts and grifters (and, to be fair, the fucknut grifters) will be easily defeated by a Democrat. And what’s the big strategy here? Reminding voters who is endorsed by Trump because to some idiot voters, that’s like getting oral from Jesus.

Read the rest of The Rude Pundit’s piece at his blog…

SMHH VideoCast 8-12-22 with Jill Wine-Banks and Joyce White Vance

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Man who fired nail gun at Cincinnati FBI building called for violence on Truth Social in days after Mar-a-Lago search

gun guns violence bullet holes
gun guns violence bullet holes

A man identified by two law enforcement sources as Ricky Shiffer, who died in a confrontation with police after he fired a nail gun at a Cincinnati FBI building, appeared to post online in recent days about his desire to kill FBI agents shortly after former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was searched.

Two law enforcement officials confirmed Shiffer’s name. Shiffer was at the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, according to three people aiding law enforcement who saw him in photos taken from the day of the attack; however, it’s unclear whether he went inside the building. Shiffer frequently posted about his attendance at the Capitol on social media.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

House Democrats are poised to send a sweeping climate and health care bill to Biden’s desk Friday

Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi

The House is expected to pass a sweeping Democratic bill to combat climate change and extend health care coverage Friday, sending it to President Joe Biden for his signature.

Passing the Inflation Reduction Act would deliver a major victory for the Democratic Party less than three months before the November midterm elections and cap nearly a year of on-again, off-again internal negotiations, defying numerous near-death experiences for the bill.

“This life-changing legislation increases the leverage of the people’s interest over the special interest,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told Democratic colleagues in a letter. “This bill makes a tremendous difference at the kitchen table of America’s families.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Anne Heche not expected to survive fiery crash into home, her family says

Anne Heche
Anne Heche

Actor Anne Heche suffered an “anoxic” brain injury and is not expected to survive, her spokesperson said Thursday, nearly a week after she crashed her car into a home in Los Angeles.

“It has long been her choice to donate her organs and she is being kept on life support to determine if any are viable,” the spokesperson said in a statement on behalf of her friends and family.

On Monday, Heche, 53, was in a coma and in “extreme” condition, her representative said. The spokesperson said Heche was “unconscious, slipping into a coma” following the crash.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump says he won’t oppose move to unseal Mar-a-Lago search warrant

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Thursday that he “personally approved the decision to seek a search warrant” for former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and that the Justice Department filed a motion earlier in the day to make the warrant public.

Trump said late Thursday that he would not oppose the move.

Speaking about his decision at a brief news conference, Garland said the department “does not take such actions lightly” and first pursues “less intrusive” means to retrieve material. Garland noted that it was Trump’s “right” to reveal Monday’s FBI search of his property and that all Americans are entitled to a presumption of innocence.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast Th 8-11-22

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FBI Director Denounces ‘Deplorable’ Threats After Mar-A-Lago Raid

blue light police siren

The director of the FBI had strong words Wednesday for supporters of former President Donald Trump who have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

Christopher Wray, who was appointed as the agency’s director in 2017 by Trump, called threats circulating online against federal agents and the Justice Department “deplorable and dangerous.”

“I’m always concerned about threats to law enforcement,” Wray said. “Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you’re upset with.”

Read the rest of the story at HuffPost

Gas prices fall below $4 a gallon, the lowest point since March

gas gasoline fuel car
gas gasoline fuel car

The national average for a gallon of gas has fallen below $4 for the first time since early March, a key psychological threshold for cash-strapped Americans even as inflation remains elevated.

The U.S. average dropped 2 cents overnight to $3.99, AAA reported Thursday, a 20 percent pullback from its June peak above $5. The run-up in gas prices earlier this year is tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing turmoil in energy markets

Relentlessly high inflation is the nation’s most vexing economic problem, prompting months of recession talk even as job growth has soared — U.S. employers added 528,000 jobs in July — and consumer spending has remained resilient.

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post

Biden signs bill to expand benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits

Biden Oval Office
Biden Oval Office

President Joe Biden signed legislation on Wednesday expanding health care benefits for veterans exposed to toxic burn pits.

The bipartisan bill, known as the PACT Act, is the most significant expansion of veterans’ health care and benefits in more than 30 years, a White House official said.

Speaking at a White House ceremony, Biden said that “veterans of the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan not only faced dangers in battle — they were breathing toxic smoke from burn pits.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump invokes Fifth Amendment nearly 450 times in N.Y. AG’s civil probe of his business practices

Former President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination Wednesday during a deposition before lawyers from New York Attorney General Letitia James‘ office in its probe into the Trump Organization’s business practices.

The deposition lasted four hours, and the only question the former president answered was about his name, Trump attorney Ron Fischetti told NBC News.

A source with knowledge of the deposition said Trump took the fifth more than 440 times.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast W 8-10-22

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2022 midterm primary results: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Vermont and Connecticut

Vote Election Ballot
Vote Election Ballot

Four states went the polls Tuesday night in matchups that included a race to take on a swing-state governor, a member of the progressive “Squad” with several primary challengers and an opportunity to elect a woman for the first time in Vermont’s at-large congressional district.

Tuesday’s primaries take place a day after the FBI searched former President Donald Trump’s primary residence in Florida, at Mar-a-Lago, as part of a probe into documents that may not have been preserved as required by the Presidential Records Act. 

Since the search, Trump has launched fundraising efforts off “Biden’s FBI RAIDS.” Republicans blasted the search, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy vowed to retaliate if the GOP takes back the House in November. 

Read the rest of the story at CBS News

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA), a top Trump ally, says FBI agents seized his cellphone

cell phone smartphone
cell phone smartphone

Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said Tuesday night that the FBI seized his cellphone earlier in the day, less than 24 hours after federal agents searched former President Donald Trump‘s home in Florida.

“This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone,” Perry said in a statement.

Perry, a top Trump ally, said the FBI “made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish. I’m outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting Member of Congress.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Federal court rules that House committee can access Trump’s tax records

tax

A federal appeals panel unanimously ruled Tuesday that a House committee can access former President Donald Trump’s tax records after a yearslong legal battle.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., agreed that the House Ways and Means Committee has the authority to obtain Trump’s tax records from the Treasury Department, upholding a district court ruling from late last year.

Trump’s lawyers are all but certain to appeal the ruling.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Trump’s legal team was in talks with DOJ this spring over records stored at Mar-a-Lago, attorney says

Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago
Trump Mar-A-Lago Maralago

Donald Trump‘s legal team was in discussions with the Justice Department as recently as early June about records stored at the former president’s Mar-a-Largo home, which FBI agents searched Monday, one of his attorneys confirmed to NBC News.

Trump attorney Christina Bobb said Tuesday that the FBI removed about a dozen boxes from a basement storage area and that a search warrant left by agents indicated they were investigating possible violations of laws dealing with the handling of classified material and the Presidential Records Act.

With her account, multiple sources have now confirmed to NBC News that the unprecedented search was related to classified material.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast T 8-9-22

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Republican officials reacted with fury to news of the search at Mar-A-Lago

Top Republicans and prominent conservatives reacted with outrage on Monday night to the news that the F.B.I. had searched the private residence of former President Donald J. Trump, with some suggesting that federal agents should be arrested and others hinting that the court-approved law-enforcement action against Mr. Trump was pushing the country toward political chaos.

“I’ve seen enough,” Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, wrote in a statement that he posted online. “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.”

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

The House Jan. 6 panel is scheduled to interview Pompeo and Mastriano today

capitol riot insurrection
capitol riot insurrection

In the wake of the F.B.I. search of former President Donald J. Trump’s property in Florida, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is gearing up to meet with two potentially key witnesses in its separate inquiry on Tuesday.

The committee is expected to meet with Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state under Mr. Trump, and Douglas V. Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania who served as a point person in the state for a plan to keep Mr. Trump in power by using slates of “alternative” or “fake” electors.

Read the rest of the story at The New York Times

Olivia Newton-John, pop singer who found stardom with ‘Grease,’ dies at 73

Olivia Newton-John

Olivia Newton-John, a British Australian pop star who dominated the pop culture of an era, has died after repeated treatments for cancer, her family announced Monday. She was 73.

“Dame Olivia Newton-John … passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends,” John Easterling, her husband, said in a statement on her official Facebook page. “We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

“Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

FBI search at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home tied to classified material, sources say

blue light police siren

Former President Donald Trump said Monday that the FBI “raided” his home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and even cracked his safe,with a source familiar with the matter telling NBC News that the search was tied to classified information Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to his Palm Beach resort in January 2021.

Trump also claimed in a written statement that the search — unprecedented in American history — was politically motivated, although he did not provide specifics.

“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a lengthy email statement issued by his Save America political committee.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

StephCast M 8-8-22

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Liz Cheney ‘Would Find It Very Difficult’ to Support DeSantis for President: He’s ‘Lined Himself Up Almost Entirely’ with Trump and ‘That’s Very Dangerous’

Liz Cheney
Liz Cheney

Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) criticisms of former President Donald Trump are no secret, with her impeachment vote and involvement in the House Select Committeeinvestigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and she holds similar concerns about Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), telling The New York Times she “would find it very difficult” to support the Florida governor for president because of how he had “lined himself up almost entirely” with Trump.

Cheney, currently the underdog in the primary battle to retain her own congressional seat against Trump-endorsed challenger Harriet Hageman, is described by Times reporter Jonathan Martin as believing that “ridding American politics of former President Donald J. Trump and his influence” is “more important than her House seat,” skipping time on the campaign trail to work with committee members and staff on their ongoing investigations and series of hearings.

Read the rest of the story at Mediaite

Republicans block cap on insulin costs for millions of patients

Republican lawmakers on Sunday successfully stripped a $35 price cap on the cost of insulin for many patients from the ambitious legislative package Democrats are moving through Congress this weekend, invoking arcane Senate rules to jettison the measure.

The insulin cap is a long-running ambition of Democrats, who want it to apply to patients on Medicare and private insurance. Republicans left the portion that applies to Medicare patients untouched but stripped the insulin cap for other patients. Bipartisan talks on a broader insulin pricing bill faltered earlier this year.

Read the rest of the story at The Washington Post

Biden ends isolation in White House after negative Covid tests

Biden Mask Oval Office
Biden Mask Oval Office

President Joe Biden traveled to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, on Sunday after he ended isolation in the White House following two negative tests for Covid.

“This morning, the president’s SARS-CoV-2 antigen testing was negative for a second consecutive day,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the White House physician, wrote in a letter Sunday. “He will safely return to public engagement and presidential travel.”

Biden told reporters he was feeling great as he walked out of the White House to board Marine One on his way to his home state, where first lady Jill Biden has been staying during his Covid infection.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Senate passes sweeping climate, health and tax package, putting Democrats on cusp of historic win

capitol Washington DC
capitol Washington DC

Senate Democrats narrowly passed a sweeping climate and economic package on Sunday, putting President Joe Biden and his party on the cusp of a big legislative victory just three months before the crucial November midterm elections.

After a marathon overnight Senate session, the 51-50 vote was strictly along party lines, with all Republicans voting no and all Democrats voting yes. After Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote, Democrats stood and applauded.

The legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act, now heads to the House, which plans to return from its summer recess on Friday, pass the legislation and send it to Biden’s desk for his signature.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Stephanie Mencimer: Trump Merch, Rabid Fans, Disgraced Ex-Officials… Inside the Right-Wing Conference Circuit

Stephanie Mencimer Mother Jones
Stephanie Mencimer Mother Jones

In 2018, two years before YouTube de-platformed “Dark Web philosopher” and alt-right star Stefan Molyneux for violating its hate speech policies, he was one of the big names featured at the first American Priority Conference in DC. The event was marketed as a free speech extravaganza of Trump-supporting activists and influencers not welcome at more traditional Republican confabs like the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the oldest, largest, and most influential right-wing gathering in the country. But when Molyneux showed up, he discovered conference rooms mostly full of empty chairs. So he bailed.

Embarrassing turnout might have put an end to this event. Instead, AMPFest, as it’s now known, relocated to the Trump National Doral Miami hotel in 2019, added a golf tournament and a $75,000 sponsorship package, and scored appearances by Donald Trump Jr. and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.). Suddenly it became a top destination in the right-wing convention circuit, providing yet another platform for disgraced MAGA-world politicos like former national security adviser Lt. General Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, campaign operative George Papadopoulos, and right-wing filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza, all of whom were pardoned by President Donald Trump for various crimes.

Read the rest of Stephanie Mencimer’s story at Mother Jones

SMHH VideoCast 8-5-22 with Noel Casler and Corny Koehl

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StephCast F 8-5-22

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Trump lawyers in talks with Justice Department about January 6 criminal probe

Former President Donald Trump’s legal team is in direct communication with Justice Department officials, the first sign of talks between the two sides as the criminal probe intoJanuary 6, 2021, accelerates, sources familiar with the matter tell CNN.

The talks revolve around whether Trump would be able to shield conversations he had while he was president from federal investigators.
 
In recent weeks, investigators have moved aggressively into Trump’s orbit, subpoenaing top former White House officials, focusing on efforts to overturn the 2020 election and executing searches of lawyers who sought to aid those efforts.
 

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema signs off on Democrats’ big agenda bill, paving the way for Senate passage

Kyrsten Sinema
Kyrsten Sinema

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema signed off on sweeping Democratic legislationThursday that would provide new spending to mitigate climate change and extend health care access while taxing corporations.

The Arizona Democrat’s announcement likely unlocks the votes needed to pass the bill in the Senate.

Sinema said her support came after Democratic leaders agreed to remove a provision on closing the so-called carried interest tax loophole that enables wealthy hedge fund and investment managers to pay lower taxes.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

U.S. officials declare monkeypox a public health emergency

syringe injection vaccine
syringe injection vaccine

The Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency on Thursday as cases topped 6,600 nationwide.

The declaration could facilitate access to emergency funds, allow health agencies to collect more data about cases and vaccinations, accelerate vaccine distribution and make it easier for doctors to prescribe treatment.

“We’re prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing this virus and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously and to take responsibility to help us tackle this virus,” Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a Thursday briefing about the emergency declaration.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

Alex Jones must pay at least $4.1 million to parents of a Sandy Hook school massacre victim in defamation case, jury rules

gavel courtroom trial
gavel courtroom trial

An Austin jury on Thursday decided Infowars host Alex Jones must pay at least $4.1 million to the family of a 6-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting for the suffering he and his website and broadcast caused them by spreading lies about the 2012 massacre.

Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, whose son Jesse died alongside 19 of his classmates and six educators at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, had sought $150 million for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

An attorney for Jones, who has repeatedly suggested that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, asked jurors to award Heslin and Lewis only $1.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News 

StephCast Th 8-4-22

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Alex Jones Finds Out in Court His Lawyers Accidentally Sent All His Texts to the Opposition — Texts Proving He Lied

cell phone smartphone
cell phone smartphone

Alex Jones found himself shocked and playing catch up during his Wednesday testimony in the Sandy Hook defamation trial as he was informed while on the stand that his lawyers had accidentally sent two years’ worth of text messages to attorney Mark Bankston, who is representing families of Sandy Hook victims.

“Did you know 12 days ago your attorneys messed up and sent me an entire digital copy of your entire cell phone with every text message you’ve sent for the past two years?” Bankston asked Jones.

Read the rest of the story and see the video at Mediaite

Trump ally Navarro sued for alleged unofficial email account

The Justice Department filed suit Wednesday against Peter Navarro, claiming the former adviser to Donald Trump used an unofficial email account while working in the White House and wrongfully retained presidential records.

The lawsuit in federal court in Washington claims Navarro used at least one “non-official” email account — a ProtonMail account — to send and receive emails. The legal action comes just weeks after Navarro was indicted on criminal charges after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Read the rest of the story at ABC News

Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski and two staffers killed in car crash

blue light police siren

Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., and two of her staffers were killed in a car crash on Wednesday, authorities said. Walorski was 58.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy first confirmed Walorski’s death in a tweet earlier Wednesday.

McCarthy said he spoke to Walorski’s husband, Dean Swihart, who was informed of her death by the Elkhart County Sheriff’s office on Wednesday afternoon.

Read the rest of the story at NBC News

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