Clear and Present Danger

Yes, Gym Jordan really is that stupid.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Gym Jordan (R-OH) has signaled a willingness to haul Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg into Congress to explain his investigation of former President Donald Trump’s hush money payments to Stormy Daniels.

However, Washington Post columnist Greg Sargent believes “it’s not clear that Jordan… has thought this through,” as this course of action could lead to a counteroffensive from Democrats.

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“If and when there is an indictment, we will be able to reconstruct all the facts of this case in a way that makes sense to the American public,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) tells Sargent.

Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY), meanwhile, tells Sargent that Jordan’s actions will make it easy for Democrats to argue that House Republicans are “using the official power of Congress to effectively coordinate with a criminal defendant.”

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Also — when a witness appears before a Congressional committee, there is a time limit for members, however, there is no time limit for how long a witness can take to respond.  Thus, NYC DA Bragg can take all the time he wants to lay out in simple terms the case against Trump — something that will be picked up by every news outlet in the country and replayed over and over and over.  Do Republicans REALLY want that?

Remember:  Democrats on the committee are former federal attorneys and lawyers.  Gym Jordan is a former assistant wrestling coach.

For his entire career, Trump has relied on legal tricks to keep him out of trouble.  His main trick has been to delay, delay, and delay some more.

Trump has been sued close to 4,000 times, most of the time by contractors to whom, after the work was finished, Trump refused to pay the full contracted amount.  He could get away with this because all but the very biggest contractors cannot afford to pay lawyers for months at a time, so, Trump — with his deep financial pockets — simply waited them out until the contractor gave up and accepted Trump’s low payment.

Trump is now dealing with state and federal governments.  These entities have endless resources — they can go along with his delays indefinitely.  HOWEVER — at some point, judges step in and now it is clear that local and state judges as well as federal judges appointed by Trump are not buying his delay tactics.

The latest case in point is his lawyer, Evan Corcoran, who tried to drag out the classified document case.  Finally, the DC federal judge had enough, told Corcoran late in the afternoon of March 21, 2023, to file his motion by midnight and told DOJ to respond by 6:00 AM the next day.  The filings are in and the judge is expected to rule against Trump within hours.

Trump’s one-trick pony is out of tricks.

A heated battle over whether a Trump attorney can be forced to testify is now in the hands of an appeals court.”

“A U.S. appeals court is expected to rule shortly on whether Trump attorney Evan Corcoran can appear before a grand jury in Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.”

“The move comes after a dizzying saga overnight, in which the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys for Trump filed dueling motions over Corcoran’s testimony. At the heart of the battling motions is a Friday ruling in which a federal judge reportedly sided with the DOJ, finding that Corcoran could be compelled to testify because prosecutors had sufficient evidence Trump may have used one of his defense attorneys in an alleged bid to mislead investigators.”

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/appeals-court-makes-extraordinary-late-night-demands-in-trump-mar-a-lago-case?ref=scroll

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AN EXPLANATION:

• Evan Corcoran was one of Trump’s attorneys who prepared the letter to DOJ claiming that Trump did not have any classified documents.
• Now it seems as though DOJ has either messages between/among Trump and his attorneys, including Corcoran — emails, texts, phone calls, conversations.
• DOJ has demanded copies of these communications, Corcoran says they are protected by attorney-client privilege; DOJ argues there is no such privilege when the communication is in furtherance of a crime (possession of stolen classified documents).
• The Court has told Corcoran to answer by midnight, March 21, and DOJ to respond to Corcoran within six hours (by 6:00 AM, March 22).

This might be a few things, all of which are speculation:

1) There is some imminent threat to National security at issue.

2) There could be concern about interfering with an active grand jury.

3) The court is all done being used for delays

4) A combination of things.

It’s all under seal, so there’s no real way to know until it’s ultimately revealed.

Whatever it is, the court deemed it important enough to go at lightspeed in handling the complaint.

The easiest case on which to nail Trump has always been his theft of classified documents. Trump made money from being president, after he lost he needed another money maker, selling classified documents or using them to extort money from people.

Trump fucked up. Once he was caught he could have copied the documents and returned them all, he fucked up. He kept a lot of them, maybe he didn’t have time to copy them? Then he told his lawyer to write a document confirming he had no more classified documents. Trump fucked up, that lawyer, Corcoran, kept notes, maybe even audio of phone calls, Corcoran is not going to prison for Trump like Alan Weisselberg did.

Trump’s big fuck up: He Underestimated Merrick Garland. Trump never in a million years imagined that the FBI would search the “Southern White House”. The courts involved in the case are not playing his delay games, lawyer Corcoran is going before a grand jury, imminently, and spilling his guts.

Trump has no Roy Cohn, he’s dead. Trump has no Bill Barr, he’s out of office. Trump has Jack Smith breathing down his neck and try as they might, the traitorous Congressional MAGAts have no jurisdiction to stop justice from being carried out.

All that Trump has is a desperate plea to his unwashed MAGAts to save him, but they saw what happened to the last batch of MAGAts — who are going to jail as fast as the courts can issue sentences.

Trump is fucked.

 

 

 

 

Joe Harding, the now-former Florida Republican lawmaker who authored the extremist “Don’t Say Gay” bill could face up to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday afternoon to federal felony fraud charges in a scheme to obtain $150,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, according to Florida Politics‘ publisher Peter Scorsch.

Harding, 35, was a construction project manager who started his own lawn care company. He quickly became a right-wing darling after his anti-LGBTQ legislation, officially the Parental Rights in Education Act, was embraced by Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed it into law.

Harding was charged in a December federal indictment with six counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in his plot to obtain $150,000 in COVID funds.He resigned from the legislature the following day. He originally pled not guilty.

After Harding was charged and resigned, Nadine Smith, the executive director of Equality Florida, responded via social media, saying: “So much harm to students, parents and teachers because of his raw political ambitions. He slandered entire communities and trafficked in lie after lie that has emboldened violent bigotry. He will have his day in court but his legacy is already a despicable one.”

Harding is not the only family member accused of criminal acts.

“Harding’s indictment follows a September guilty plea from his brother-in-law, Patrick Walsh,” Florida Politics reported in December. “As reported by Fresh Take Florida, Walsh pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges connected to his receipt of nearly $8 million in disaster relief loans.”

Unrepentant to the harm many feel he has done to children and the LGBTQ community, in a statement Tuesday Harding said: “During the past legislative session I have felt the support of millions of Americans while fighting for our shared concerns and for the rights of parents. I will never forget the support I received from every corner of this great country.”

Harding will be sentenced in July.

WASHINGTON, DC (WDBJ) – A Mechanicsville VA man was sentenced Tuesday in the District of Columbia for assaulting law enforcement officers and other charges connected to the Capitol breach Jan. 6, 2021, which led to the disruption of a joint session of the U.S. Congress convened to count electoral votes related to the presidential election, according to the US Attorney’s Office.

Geoffrey William Sills, 31, was sentenced to 52 months in prison for obstruction of an official proceeding, assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon and robbery; all charges are felonies.

Sills was found guilty in August 2022, following a bench trial before U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden. Sills was indicted with eight other defendants, five of whom have been convicted, and three of whom are awaiting trial. In addition to the prison term, Sills was ordered to pay $2,000 restitution and serve 36 months of supervised release.

Per the US Attorney’s Office, according to court documents, on Jan. 6, 2021, “Sills illegally entered the Capitol grounds after earlier attending a rally at the Ellipse. He joined in the violence that occurred in the tunnel area of the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace. From approximately 2:40 p.m., law enforcement officers maintained a line at the second set of glass doors inside the tunnel leading from the inaugural platform to the entrance to the Capitol. These officers fought a group of rioters — including the defendants — inside the tunnel, protecting the doors, until approximately 3:19 p.m. when they cleared them from the tunnel. Clashes continued throughout the afternoon.”

Read more: https://www.wdbj7.com/2023/03/21/virginia-man-gets-prison-january-6-capitol-breach/

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COMMENT

FAFO — Fuck Around, Find Out.

Remember:  He will go to federal prison where there is NO parole, NO time off for good behavior.

 

 

 After working for Palm Beach Atlantic University for more than 20 years, Dr. Samuel Joeckel of West Palm Beach has been fired over the teaching of a racial justice unit.

The professor, who first announced he was under investigation for teaching the course in February, revealed his termination over social media on Wednesday.

When the investigation by university officials first opened, he said it was due to toxic state politics. Joeckel taught English at PBA since 2002. Speaking with multiple news outlets, he said he’s taught a unit on racial justice at the private, Christian university for 12 years, and that it had never before been a “cause for concern” to university administration.

When the investigation by university officials first opened, he said it was due to toxic state politics. Joeckel taught English at PBA since 2002. Speaking with multiple news outlets, he said he’s taught a unit on racial justice at the private, Christian university for 12 years, and that it had never before been a “cause for concern” to university administration.

On Feb. 15, Joeckel said the university provost and dean of the school of liberal arts told him the process for renewing his contract was delayed as they reviewed the material of the racial justice course.

According to Joeckel, a student’s parent had called the unviersity president to complain he was indoctrinating students. In an Instagram post, Joeckel described the encounter with his administrators further, saying that his discussion with them was ” “cut short” so the administrator could “prepare for the arrival of [Gov.] Ron DeSantis and his speaking engagement on campus,” that same day.

DeSantis was on campus at the time to announce plans for a “Digital Bill of Rights,” aimed at protecting Florida residents from being censored.

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First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

—Martin Niemöller

And now they are coming for the teachers — will no one speak out?

So far, Trump is not getting the response he wants, as nobody is putting their body on the line and protesting in the streets. Even III Percenter,  Oath Keeper, and Proud Boy leaders are saying they are “retired” from protesting.

All they are doing is griping and whining on social media, which is not what Trump had in mind.

Perhaps it is because the whiners know that any violent protests would be over, as one tweeter put it, “in two Ashli Babbit’s”.  (That is, two Trumphumpers shot dead and all protests will end.)