Author: clearandpresentdanger

Was that “well-regulated” or “well-fed”?

 

 

 

 

 

This past weekend, in his Meet The Press interview with Kristen Welker, Donald Trump reaffirmed his intention to pardon the people who attacked our Capitol, killing five civilians and three police officers and sending more than 140 cops to the hospital.

“I’m going to be acting very quickly. First day,” Trump said of pardoning Jan. 6 killers. “They’ve been in there for years, and they’re in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn’t even be allowed to be open.”

Most media and political observers and commentators appear to be of the opinion that this is simply Trump’s way of thanking the people who made what he considers a heroic effort to keep him in office through violence. That would be bad enough, but experts at The Critical Internet Studies Institute are worried that there may be a much more sinister explanation.

If they’re right, it would also go a long way toward explaining his picks for Attorney General, Defense Secretary, and FBI director.

This theory, increasingly shared among counterterrorism experts and people who monitor violent rightwing extremist groups, suggests that the real reason Trump would do the pardons (and is unafraid of discussing them) is because he’s recruiting. And you don’t need to go back to 1930s Europe to find examples of how that could work.

Russia’s dictator Vladimir Putin, for example, has often used non-state actors to intimidate and even kill his political enemies. The most well-known is the Night Wolves Motorcycle Club, aka “Putin’s Angels,” run by a man who calls himself “the Surgeon.”

They helped Putin invade Crimea and Ukraine, but most of their activity is against protestors, “communists” (anybody opposing Putin), and the queer community in Russia.

Similarly, five years and one week before Trump applauded the “Jews will not replace us” Nazis who rallied in Charlottesville and murdered Heather Heyer, a group of some 700 right-wing Hungarian “patriots” held a torchlight parade that ended in front of the homes of Hungary’s largest minority group, chanting, “We will set your homes on fire!”

Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán’s police watched the thugs, laughing and refusing to intervene, as Roma families fled their homes in terror. In 2013, Zsolt Bayer, one of the founders of Orbán’s party, had called the Roma “animals… unfit to live among people.”

Language strikingly similar, if not milder, to Trump‘s way of describing Black people, immigrants, and liberals.

Orbán refused to condemn Bayer or the violence, and life has become more and more difficult for racial, ethnic, and religious minorities. Not only are they routinely excluded from job markets, but are also frequently subject to violence at the hands of all-white, Orbán-supporting Hungarian militias.

Armed rightwing militia groups in the United States have been on a recruiting jag of their own in anticipation of Trump’s presidency, according to press reports and terrorism experts. For example, Reuters notes:

“The Proud Boys are back. Four years after the failed effort to overturn Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat, the violent all-male extremist group that led the storming of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, is rebuilding and regaining strength as Trump campaigns to return to the White House, according to interviews with eight Proud Boys, two U.S. law enforcement officials and four experts who track the group’s online activity.”

Similarly, Wired magazine reports that Scott Seddon, the Pennsylvania-based founder of the American Patriots Three Percenters (APIII), is preparing for something like war:

“’This is not going to just go away. We need to become fuckin’ strong, fuckin’ lions,’ says Seddon. ‘Start reaching out to individuals in your state that are trustworthy, that have the like-minded vision of local strong communities, to hold down the fort, just in case [of] war, or for when shit hits the fan.’”

El Pais tells the story of armed militia groups who are looking forward to action on America’s southern border when Trump allows it. Referencing them, Tom Homan, who Trump has appointed as his “Border Czar,” told Fox “News”:

“There are thousands of retired agents, border patrols, retired military personnel who want to come and volunteer to help this president secure the border and do deportation operations.”

They also cite a Wired article that quotes Tim Foley, head of Arizona Border Recon, a white “civilian patrol group,” as saying they’re doing outreach:

“We’re in talks with a few different people. We have a better lay of the land than the federal agents do.”

It’s worth remembering that the people Trump says he wants to pardon not only include almost exclusively white men who killed civilians and police officers, but who also tried to hang the Vice President and murder the Speaker of the House of Representatives. These are actions that typically only happen in countries experiencing a live civil war.

Which is exactly what Trump’s Defense nominee Pete Hegseth has argued we’re on the verge of. In his 2020 book American Crusade, Hegseth described leftists as the nation’s “internal adversaries”:

“The military and police, both bastions of freedom-loving patriots, will be forced to make a choice,” Hegseth further wrote. “It will not be good. Yes, there will be some form of civil war.”

More recently, in his 2024 book “The War on Warriors,” Hegseth asserted that because of Democrats “America today is in a cold civil war,” claiming that the country is “under siege by confederacy radicals.”

Donald Trump himself has said that he expects his plan to deport millions of undocumented workers in America to be “bloody.”

Our timid national media refuse to even consider such a savage scenario, but America should brace itself as Trump has not let up on his violent rhetoric and neither have his followers. As former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance told MSNBC’s Ari Melber:

“You know, when you listen to these comments and watch these videos, what you are forced to consider is the message that Donald Trump is sending, because it is not just to the January 6th defendants.

“It is to the people he hopes will support him in this next term, and the message is: ‘Support me at all costs, use violence, commit crimes, I will take care of you.’

“I find that to be deeply frightening.”

January 6th taught us that Trump and some of the people following him are deadly serious and willing to use violence and even murder to achieve their goals.

America needs to get ready. 

Democrats must not relent in opposing Trump’s cabinet and senior officer nominees. Although it can be tiresome to continually focus on the unfitness of those nominees, Trump is hoping that we will lose interest and go away.

But the mere passage of time cannot be allowed to normalize allegations of rape, public drunkenness, white supremacist tattoos, unnatural sympathy for Putin and Bashar al-Assad, promotion of QAnon conspiracies and election denialism, and profound ignorance and lack of qualifications for important and sensitive jobs.

The nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense has come back from the brink as Senator Joni Ernst expressed lukewarm support for Hegseth after MAGA extremists threatened to challenge her in Iowa’s GOP primary for US Senate in 2026. See Talking Points Memo, At Risk Of Being Primaried, Joni Ernst Throws Pete Hegseth A Line.

The fact that Ernst, a distinguished military veteran with service in the Iraq War, could be so easily frightened into supporting a candidate manifestly unfit to lead the Department of Defense is a betrayal of the men and women of the military. It is not too late for her to do the right thing. She needs to hear from more service personnel and constituents in Iowa who do not want the Department of Defense led by a man deemed unfit to serve as part of the security detail in Washington, D.C. on January 6, 2021.

Trump is doing everything in his power to quash voices of dissent against Pete Hegseth’s nomination. A NewsMax host lambasted Hegseth’s nomination during a broadcast last Friday. That act of disloyalty to Trump resulted in an “all hands” meeting among producers and on-air reporters at NewsMax, who were told that they could not criticize Hegseth, but should instead characterize the allegations as unfounded. See Mediaite, ‘Will Result in Termination’: Newsmax Bans Criticism of Pete Hegseth After Trump Fumed Over Host’s Attack.

Meanwhile, Tulsi Gabbard’s interview tour on Capitol Hill began amid new questions about her relationship with Bashar al-Assad after the fall of Syria. See MSN, Gabbard kicks off Capitol Hill meetings amid questions over Syria. Even Senate Republicans are skeptical but seem to be trying to find their way to “Anything Trump wants is good enough for us!”

Trump compounded his disastrous choices of Kash Patel to head the FBI and Pam Bondi to lead the DOJ by nominating Harmeet Dhillon to lead the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ. Dhillon has a history of voter suppression lawsuits on behalf of Republican groups and candidates. She also has a history of anti-trans activism.

Given that the Civil Rights Division is charged with protecting voting rights and civil liberties of all people—including trans people—Dhillon represents the antithesis of the Civil Rights Division. Dhillon is another nominee who seems designed to undermine and obstruct the agency she has been nominated to lead. See The Guardian, Trump picks Maga darling Harmeet Dhillon to lead civil rights cases at DOJ.

As Trump tries to destroy the organs of democracy with anti-democratic avatars, he is simultaneously extending his ongoing grift by appointing family and friends to important positions for which they have no qualifications.

Two weeks ago, Trump nominated Ivanka’s father-in-law, Charles Kushner, to be US Ambassador to France. Kushner was convicted of tax fraud and witness tampering but was pardoned by Trump—and then rewarded with an ambassadorship to a key US ally.

On Tuesday, the press simultaneously reported that Don Jr. and his fiancé, Kimberly Guilfoyle, had split and that Trump was appointing Kimberly Guilfoyle as US Ambassador to Greece. See CNN Politics, Trump chooses Kimberly Guilfoyle as his pick for Greece ambassador.

As some observers noted, Trump has replaced his ubiquitous “non-disclosure agreements” and “hush money settlements” with US ambassadorships. So, Trump is now using US taxpayer dollars to buy the silence of former Trump family girlfriends.

But it doesn’t stop there. Trump is reportedly pressuring Republican Governor Ron DeSantis to appoint Lara Trump—Eric Trump’s wife—to replace Florida Senator Marco Rubio. See Fox News, Trump pressing DeSantis to name Lara Trump as Rubio’s Senate successor: source.

Trump apparently believes putting Lara Trump in the Senate will allow him to take control of the Senate, according to Elon Musk’s mom. See Irish Times, Elon Musk’s mom slams ‘old man’s club’ Senate and wants Lara Trump in charge.

If DeSantis appoints Lara Trump to replace Rubio, she will need to stand for election in November 2026.

Speaking of blatant family nepotism, Robert Kennedy Jr. is pushing for his stepdaughter and former campaign manager, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, to serve as the Deputy Director of the CIA. See Axios, Scoop: RFK Jr. pushes his daughter-in-law for CIA deputy director.

Although Fox Kennedy served in the CIA for ten years as an agent, she broke CIA rules when she published a memoir about her time in the agency without submitting her book to the CIA for a security review and pre-clearance—as required by her employment contract with the CIA.

So, Fox Kennedy’s leading qualification for the CIA is that she appears to be unable to follow rules designed to keep the spy agency’s secrets secret. In other words, like almost every other Trump pick, she is the antithesis of what the position demands of a qualified applicant.

Trump may be playing “flood the zone” with unqualified candidates as a way of ensuring that some of those candidates make it through the process. He is counting on the fact that Senators and the public will grow weary of opposing every awful candidate who deserves to be opposed. We can’t let that happen.

Keep this link at hand to contact your US Senators: U.S. Senate: Contacting U.S. Senators. The confirmation hearings will begin after January 3, 2025. Call or write your Senator early and often. Speak from the heart as a concerned constituent and American citizen who will hold the Senator accountable for their vote for or against unqualified and unfit Trump nominees.

Governing is hard . . . as Trump is about to find out.

By Robert Hubbell

(I encourage you to visit Hubbell’s Substack blog and subscribe.)

I am circling back to events that occurred late last week and over the weekend. Others have discussed these developments fully, especially Donald Trump’s first “sit down” interview as president-elect. See, for example, Jay Kuo on Substack, Status Kuo, The Interview. I recommend Jay Kuo’s article for a detailed analysis of Trump’s lies during his first formal interview as president-elect.

As Kuo describes in his essay, Trump touched on five major topics:

• He vowed to end birthright citizenship under the US Constitution.
• He is still exploring “concepts of a plan” to replace the Affordable Care Act;
• He acknowledged that his threatened tariffs might contribute to inflation;
• He threatened the January 6 Committee members with imprisonment while pledging to pardon January 6 insurrectionists;
• He threatened to “send them all back,” referring to ten million immigrants whom he believes are subject to immediate detention and deportation.

Trump’s threats outlined above will cause tens of millions of Americans to experience fear and anxiety and will inflict financial and emotional hardship on innocent family members. While that damage must never be minimized, we must also recognize that Trump’s threats–collectively and individually—portend a disastrous start to his second term.

If he is stupid enough to follow through on his threats (and he is), they will provide Democrats, Independents, and shell-shocked Republicans with a common platform to resist and obstruct Trump’s agenda, and punish his party.

Although NBC published a post-interview fact check and Kristen Welker pushed back against many of Trump’s falsehoods, Welker and NBC gave Trump plenty of airtime to repeat his outrageous lies.

Giving Trump that platform is journalistic malpractice—one that the major networks and cable outlets commit again and again. Readers sent me several dozen copies of David Pepper’s criticisms of the NBC interview: See Pepperspectives (on Substack), Platforming Disinformation – by David Pepper.

David Pepper prescribes the only rational approach to interviewing Trump (an approach not followed by Kristen Welker):

I’ll re-make the simple suggestion I made [when NBC interviewed Trump over a year ago]: Never move on from the FIRST lie until Trump acknowledges it’s a lie.

NEVER.

Literally….end the interview rather than moving onto the next topic.

Why does this matter?

Because Trump and other dishonest subjects go into these interviews KNOWING they can get away with endless lying, for two reasons.

First, in many cases, most of the lies are not even fact-checked.

Second, even if they are fact checked, the liar KNOWS that the interviewer’s goal is to get through a long list of questions. That list of questions, more than truth itself, becomes the goal of the interview.

David Pepper is absolutely correct! Unless journalists are willing to do the real work of holding Trump accountable for his lies, they are providing a platform for those lies.

Back to my thesis: Each of Trump’s threats mentioned during the NBC interview will sow the seeds of MAGA’s defeat. For example, Trump wrongly claims that he can “end” birthright citizenship—a right explicitly guaranteed in the 14^th Amendment. His proposal has been met with derision and scorn by legal scholars, who have described Trump’s theory as a “lunatic fringe argument” and akin to believing in “unicorns.”

But that won’t stop Trump from issuing an unconstitutional executive order that will immediately cloud the status of legal residency, employment, Social Security benefits, healthcare, and unemployment insurance for tens of millions of Americans. Many millions of those American citizens likely voted for Trump in the mistaken belief that his lunacy would be directed at other people.

Trump intentionally ratcheted up the fear factor by saying that his termination of birthright citizenship should not “break up families.” Instead, Trump proposes to deport everyone in the family in which only some members have birthright citizenship.

Deportation based on “guilt by association” is extraordinarily unlikely to happen, but it did not stop Trump from making the threat during the interview and frightening millions of American families in which some, but not all, of the family members are US citizens by birth.

The same cruelty is embedded in Trump’s massive deportation plan, which he has previously acknowledged will sweep in US citizens or legal residents entitled to remain in the US.

Even Trump knows he went too far in his interview bombast. He was forced to acknowledge during the interview that his tariffs “might” contribute to inflation—a statement that is as close as Trump ever comes to an admission that he is wrong.

Moreover, on Monday, a Trump spokesperson went further in attempting to “walk back” one of Trump’s statements about jailing members of the January 6 Committee. The unusual move by Trump came after some of Trump’s stalwart allies in the legal world blasted Trump for claiming that members of the January 6 Committee should be imprisoned.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington School of Law and a frequent defender of Trump during impeachment hearings, said the following on Fox “news”:

The fact, however, is that there is no viable criminal case to be made against the J6 Committee members for their investigation or report. We need to move beyond the rage rhetoric if this country is going to come together to face the tough challenges ahead.

Trump spokesperson Jason Miller tried to dispute the clear implication of Trump’s threat against the J6 Committee members by saying that Trump only wants “the law to be applied equally to everyone” and that the decision would be left up to law enforcement officials, including Kash Patel.

Of course, Jason Miller did not acknowledge that Kash Patel (nominee for FBI) has a political enemies list that includes every prominent member of the January 6 Committee.

If Trump follows through with his threat to pursue that January 6 Committee, his effort will crash and burn—even if it makes its way to the compromised and corrupt Roberts’ reactionary majority. The work of the January 6 Committee is absolutely protected by the Speech and Debate Clause of the US Constitution.

Finally, Trump’s pledge to pardon the January 6 insurrectionists is a lose-lose proposition for Trump. If he pardons all of them (unlikely) he will pardon dozens of insurrectionists who attacked and inflicted serious injuries on dozens of law enforcement officers. If Trump pardons fewer than all of the insurrectionists, he will be viewed as having broken his promise and betrayed his most violent supporters among the January 6 mob. As I said, lose, lose.

Here’s my point: Trump is in the “talking tough, consequence free” portion of his post-election fantasy tour. As soon as he attempts to act on any of his anti-democratic, “lunatic fringe,” family-busting threats, the consequences of his cruelty will dominate the airwaves non-stop. And that will horrify Americans and weaken Trump politically.

I expect that many readers will disagree with my analysis. But the Trump team has already seen this train coming down the tracks, which is why Jason Miller has started to walk-back some of Trump’s comments and Trump has himself acknowledged that tariffs will raise prices in the US.

I believe that Trump has overplayed his hand. Yes, he will carry through with some of his threats and will inflict pain on millions of Americans. That tragic state of affairs will be our opening to convince the majority of Americans that Trump and his party of enablers are toxic to democracy.

“I’ve seen him dragged away not a few times but multiple times. To have him at the Pentagon would be scary.”

New York Times: Pete Hegseth’s mother wrote him an email in 2018 accusing him of mistreating women https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/30/politics/pete-hegseth-mother-email-new-york-times/index.html

A previously undisclosed whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America, from 2013 until 2016, describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity—to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/pete-hegseths-secret-history

Hegseth was one of 12 national guardsmen flagged as a potential insider threat and removed from the group providing security for the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hegseth-insider-threat-biden-inauguration/

Woman accused Hegseth of raping her at a 2017 Republican women’s conference in Monterey, California
https://www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/news_blog/police-report-details-allegations-that-secretary-of-defense-nominee-pete-hegseth-raped-a-woman-in/article_cc7c633e-a7c7-11ef-9e13-af6d1aa8ed78.html

Hegseth seemed to have played a major role in bankrupting the Vets For Freedom by using funds for endless social events and parties https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5017946-pentagon-pick-hegseth-misconduct/

Pete Hegseth accused of chanting ‘kill all Muslims’ on a drunken night out https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/pete-hegseth-trump-allegations-history-b2657456.html

Pete Hegseth Published Column Saying Sex with Unconscious Woman Isn’t Rape https://www.yahoo.com/news/pete-hegseth-published-column-saying-225600849.html

Pete Hegseth accused of being “white supremacist” by civil rights lawyer https://www.newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-defense-secretary-white-supremacist-trump-1986435

Trump Defense Secretary pick Pete Hegseth proudly boasted of never washing his hands: ‘Germs are not real’ | ‘Germs are not a real thing.’ https://www.newsweek.com/pete-hegseth-hand-washing-video-viral-secretary-defense-trump-1985448

Donald Trump’s potential secretary of defense hasn’t been straightforward about the violent symbolism of his ink.https://www.thebulwark.com/p/whats-the-deal-with-pete-hegseth-crusader-tattoos

Pete Hegseth Falsely Claims He Was ‘Completely Cleared’ On Sex Assault Allegation https://www.yahoo.com/news/pete-hegseth-falsely-claims-completely-220040788.html

‘Hug goodbye lingered’: Writer tells of creepy meeting with ‘perfect monster’ Pete Hegseth https://www.rawstory.com/pete-hegseth-2669997939/

Trump’s defense pick openly fantasized about military attack on ‘domestic enemies’: report https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/22/trump-defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-book

A whistle-blower report and other documents suggest that Trump’s nominee to run the Pentagon was forced out of previous leadership positions for financial mismanagement, sexist behavior, and being repeatedly intoxicated on the job https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/pete-hegseths-secret-history

One month after the election of Donald Trump I feel more certain about who he is and what he aims to achieve but less certain about who stands in opposition to him. Trump is an aspiring dictator who aims to aggregate his power to reward his friends and punish his enemies.

His nominations are neither surprising nor unexpected. He is elevating his henchmen to key positions without shame or explanation. He seeks to convert the power of the state to a personal arsenal. He wants to transform government policy to enrich himself, his family and his cronies.

None of this is unexpected. It was both predictable and predicted by countless politicians, journalists and civic and business leaders. For months leading up to Election Day there were warnings nearly every day of what would happen if he was returned to power — Project 2025, weaponizing the government, staffing his cabinet with unqualified people loyal to him rather than the nation.

What has surprised me, depressed me and ultimately angered me are the voices that have gone silent. So many who were so loud in warning about the dangers of Trump now speak only in whispers if at all. The critics who were bold and brash when they thought Harris would win are now tamed and seeking accommodation. Media figures who claimed to be the bastion of protection for our democracy now make pilgrimages to temper Trump’s anger.

Martin Luther King Jr. said “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge.” We are in a time of challenge. The question for every leader, every citizen is where do you stand?

One of the most common refrains I now hear is that people are exhausted and want to tune out politics. I’m sorry you are tired, but you don’t get to claim you are fighting for democracy only when you think your side will win. It is a fight precisely because the other side may prevail. It is exactly in those times that we need your voice, your energy and your action.

Others confess they want to avoid the fight because they are scared. They worry about what Trump might do to them, their families and their jobs. They take Trump literally and seriously when he talks about retribution. They fear the financial, emotional and legal toll of a politically motivated investigation.

It is okay to be afraid. It is natural to worry about what Trump and his minions might do. It is productive to plan to stay safe, secure and sane in a time of uncertainty and insanity. But do you think you will survive that way for four years? Do you really think Trump will spare you because you now show obedience?

He won’t. Trump is a bully and bullies prey on the weak. They understand the power of fear and exploit it. Capitulating to Trump now — even before he has been sworn in — makes you more vulnerable, not less.

When he was 28 and living in the Jim Crow South, King gave another, less famous speech that speaks to our times. He spoke about the need to confront fear with courage.

What we must do is this: do not disengage. It is okay to be fearful, but don’t let it rule you. As King said, “build dikes of courage to ward off the flood of fear.” Start with a simple act of telling a friend that what Trump is doing is wrong. When you have built up the courage, tell a larger group or post it online. When you are ready, join a group or civic organization aimed at protecting our democracy.

If you are a leader who previously boasted about your pro-democracy positions, you have a greater obligation. If you feel obliged to obey Trump, spare us your justifications and rationalizations and just tell us you are too scared to continue the fight. If you feel the need to bow down, then stand down and let someone else with more courage take your spot.

Unfortunately, too many legacy media outlets may have catchy slogans but have already chosen to bow down. They hide behind false neutrality and journalistic “ethics” as an excuse to do nothing.

Donald Trump has not yet taken office. The abuses of his administration have not yet begun. It is going to get worse, much worse. We need to stand up an opposition not for a month or two but for four years or more. To do that, we cannot allow ourselves or our leaders to be too tired. We must insist they have courage or get out of the way.

Joe Biden’s Hunter lesson: The political high road is a mirage
Trump has gone to war against the America we have known. Democrats must be prepared to use any weapon to fight back

By Lucian K. Truscott IV
Columnist
Published December 3, 2024 8:57AM (EST)

(Salon) How quickly we forget. On the morn of President Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter, there is nary a column inch about who Trump pardoned before he left office. All the pearl clutchers — elected Democrats and liberal political commentators alike – have been lamenting that Biden “lied” or “broke his promise” not to pardon his son. Meanwhile, Trump’s pardons of multiple figures who could incriminate him criminally or merely for political corruption are going unmentioned. So, let’s take a little trip down the Trump pardon memory hole:

We will start with the odious Paul Manafort. He had all kinds of connections to possible Trump crimes. Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska hired him to run his influence operation in Ukraine, which included lobbying for an accused murderer seeking investment opportunities for his corrupt company, as well as running the political campaign of Viktor Yanukovych, the corrupt Ukrainian politician who would be elected president and then ousted in a peaceful revolution. Manafort met repeatedly with a Russian GRU agent working for Deripaska, Konstantin Kilimnik, while serving as Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and even transferred Trump polling information to him. Manafort was convicted on multiple counts of bank fraud and money laundering associated with his corrupt work in Ukraine. He lied to investigators looking into Trump’s Russia ties. He had connections to Trump’s so-called foreign policy adviser, Michael Flynn, whom Trump appointed as his first national security adviser, and who was ousted from that position after serving just two weeks for lying to the FBI about his connections to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Trump pardoned Flynn, too.

….(snip)….

Are we seeing a pattern here? You bet. Each of Trump’s pardons listed above was to benefit himself. During his time in the White House, Trump repeatedly waved the promise of pardons to keep his co-conspirators from cooperating with investigations he faced. Shutting up Manafort alone helped him in his first impeachment for attempting to blackmail Ukrainian President Zelenskyy into opening a fake investigation in Ukraine of Joe Biden and his son Hunter. This created a savage backlash against Hunter Biden that was carried out for years by James Comer and his House Oversight Committee, which held countless hearings into what Comer called the “Biden crime family.”

….(snip)….

It is a cliché to say that the gloves are off, but that is the situation Donald Trump has purposefully created. He has threatened to investigate and prosecute anyone who was ever involved in investigating and prosecuting him. That would include Robert Mueller and his entire team of investigators and federal prosecutors. Of course, special counsel Jack Smith and his entire office, which includes FBI investigators and federal prosecutors, some of whom came out of retirement to work on the Trump investigation, are on Trump’s list for retribution. Kash Patel, Trump’s prospective FBI Director, has given several interviews about his plans to investigate anyone who has ever so much as picked up a pencil to bother his master. ………………..(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/12/03/joe-bidens-hunter-lesson-the-political-high-road-is-a-mirage/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/dinesh-dsouza-movie-apology-pardon-b2657368.html

Far-right provocateur and pardoned felon Dinesh D’Souza has issued an apology over false accusations he made in his 2022 election conspiracy theory movie 2000 Mules, acknowledging that his claims about illegal “ballot trafficking” during the 2020 presidential election were misleading and inaccurate.

In a lengthy statement posted to his website on Sunday, D’Souza said that his movie — which asserts that “mules” were paid to fraudulently deposit harvested ballots in swing states — had relied on “cell phone geolocation data” provided by conservative non-profit group True the Vote. That data, D’Souza noted, had turned out to be false.

“We were assured that the surveillance videos had been linked to geolocation cell phone data, such that each video depicted an individual who had made at least 10 visits to drop boxes. Indeed, it is clear from the interviews within the film itself that True the Vote was correlating the videos to geolocation data,” he wrote. “We recently learned that surveillance videos used in the film may not have actually been correlated with the geolocation data.”

Adding that his movie and companion book created the “impression that these individuals were mules that had been identified as suspected ballot harvesters” based on True the Vote’s cell phone data, D’Souza conceded that these people were wrongfully accused of misconduct.

“While all of these individuals’ images were blurred and unrecognizable, one of the individuals has since come forward publicly and has initiated a lawsuit over the use of his blurred image in the film and the book,” he stated. “I owe this individual, Mark Andrews, an apology. I now understand that the surveillance videos used in the film were characterized on the basis of inaccurate information provided to me and my team.”

After the Georgia Bureau of Investigation exonerated Andrews of any illegal activity, finding that he was legally dropping off ballots for members of his family, Andrews filed a defamation lawsuit against D’Souza, True the Vote and Salem Media, the publisher of 2000 Mules. In his lawsuit, Andrews alleged that the baseless claims made in the film led to violent threats against him and his family.

Settling its end of the defamation suit, Salem Media apologized to Andrews in May of this year and halted distribution of D’Souza’s film and book on all of its platforms. In its statement, the conservative media company said it “relied on representations made to us by Dinesh D’Souza and True the Vote.”

Even before Andrews filed his lawsuit, 2000 Mules had been widely debunked over the “categorically false” claims and conspiracy theories it peddled in service of Donald Trump’s repeated and groundless assertions that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.

True the Vote, for instance, insisted that its geolocation data was so accurate that it had been used to solve a murder. NPR found that was far from the truth. In the end, the right-wing organization admitted to a Georgia judge earlier this year that it does not have the evidence to support its claims of illegal ballot stuffing.

Additionally, just before it hit shelves, the 2000 Mules book had to be abruptly pulled to remove false claims made about other nonprofits amid threats of legal action.

Despite admitting that the data he relied on from True the Vote was bogus, D’Souza — a known conspiracist with a long history of peddling falsehoods — insisted that “the underlying premise of the film holds true.” He also claimed that he continued “to have faith that True the Vote’s underlying geolocation data and analysis” found suspicious voting activity.