The Era of rivalry, Biden vs. Trump and their respective parties

The Times reports, "Two of former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers who had represented him in the classified documents investigation resigned from his legal team the day after he was indicted, according to a statement they released on Friday.

"The lawyers, James Trusty and John Rowley, left Mr. Trump’s defense team in a state of chaos and confusion as he faced the most serious legal threat of his career: a 37-count indictment filed in Miami accusing him of illegally retaining documents after he left office about some of the country’s most sensitive national security secrets and of engaging in a conspiracy with an aide to obstruct the government’s repeated efforts to retrieve them."

 

Sandy Shanks said:
There is a huge problem with Trump's base. You wonder why, in the face of all of Trump's legal problems, he has so much support from grassroots Republicans,

It's simple. They don't know the truth concerning Trump, and they don't want to know.

"President Trump famously declared during his 2016 campaign that he loved the “poorly educated” because voters with lower levels of schooling delivered an overwhelming share of votes to him," the conservative Washington Times.
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Trump's followers are very quiet on the issues of Trump's indictment. Most of them blame our President and the FBI and DOJ for Trump's theft of classified documents. Some say Trump did nothing wrong, as if a private citizen stealing Top Secret material was akin to stealing apples from the neighbor's tree.

In a way, I can understand their dilemma. Some Republican politicians, mostly in the House, are trying desperately to defend Trump. If Trump's followers used their reasoning, they would be laughed off the forum.

Here is just one aspect of their problem Bill Barr was Trump's attorney general.

Fox News -- yeah, Fox News, known also as the Trump Network recently fined for spreading Trump's lies -- reports, "Former President Donald Trump is "toast" if "even half" of the material in his indictment is true, former Attorney General Bill Barr told Fox News Sunday.

"Barr made an appearance with Host Shannon Bream regarding last week's indictment against Trump. He argued that the incident is "very damning" for the Republican candidate.

"If even half of [the indictment] is true then he's toast. It's a very detailed indictment, and it's very, very damning," Barr said.

"This idea of presenting Trump as a victim here--the victim of a witch hunt--is ridiculous. Yes, he's been a victim in the past. Yes his adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims, and I've been at his side defending him when he is a victim, but this is much different. He's not a victim here," Barr added. "He was totally wrong that he had the right to have those documents. Those documents are among the most sensitive secrets the country has."

Has anyone noticed the large number of people, including lawyers, who worked with Trump are now turning against him? Felons always have that problem. Guilt by association is very real. Just ask Walt Nauta.

 

Trump's defenders have very little to work with. That is particularly true when one realizes that Trump has admitted his guilt several times, and he is on tape doing so.

So, desperate Republicans blame our President and the Attorney General for Trump's indictment. They are forced to accept Trump's countless lies about the case.

NBC reports, "Top congressional Republicans rallied behind Donald Trump on Thursday night, framing the former president's indictment as nothing more than President Joe Biden’s “weaponizing” his Justice Department against his likeliest 2024 political opponent.

“It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him. Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades,” tweeted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., a Trump loyalist. “I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice.

“House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable," McCarthy wrote.

"House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., tweeted that it was a “sham indictment”: “Let’s be clear about what’s happening: Joe Biden is weaponizing his Department of Justice against his own political rival.”

"House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, D-N.Y., said in a statement that Trump’s indictment “is the epitome of the illegal and unprecedented weaponization of the federal government against Joe Biden’s leading opponent, Donald J. Trump.”

“Biden is attacking his most likely 2024 opponent,” Vance tweeted. “He’s using the justice system to preemptively steal the 2024 election. This is what’s happening, plain and simple,” Freshman Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.

Our President did not indict Trump. The DOJ did not indict Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith did not indict Trump.

Miami, Florida, is Trump country. "Former President Donald Trump has been indicted by a federal grand jury after a months-long investigation into his handling of classified documents after leaving office," ABC.

That is a grand jury made up of folks like you and me, not politicians, and certainly not Democratic politicians, not in Florida!

 

Some good news for a change. It concerns our President's vibrant economy.

CNN reports, "Americans are optimistic about inflation being lower in the coming months; however, their future outlooks — for price hikes as well as their own finances — are a little more clouded.

"Consumers’ near-term inflation expectations fell in May to their lowest level in two years, according to new survey data released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."

“That is consistent with the theme that inflation is coming down — probably more slowly than many were hoping — but nonetheless, that trend remains lower both from an actual data standpoint and also from a consumer expectation standpoint,” Angelo Kourkafas, an investment strategist with Edward Jones, told CNN.

 

The former Republican President was arrested today. Deputy marshals booked the former President, and he was fingerprinted. The booking process took about 10 minutes.

Trump was not handcuffed and his mugshot was not taken, which raises a question. Considering the many lies Trump is spreading about the DOJ and our President, why is it the feds are giving Trump all this consideration?

When is this man going to get the treatment he deserves?

How bad is it for Trump? This bad.

The Guardian reports, "Trump and his legal team spent the afternoon before his arraignment interviewing potential lawyers but the interviews did not result in any joining the team in time for Trump’s initial court appearance scheduled for 3pm ET on Tuesday after several attorneys declined to take him as a client.

"Trump has also seemingly been unable to find a specialist national security lawyer, eligible to possess a security clearance, to help him navigate the Espionage Act charges.

"The last-minute scramble to find a veteran trial lawyer was a familiar process for Trump, who has had difficulty hiring and keeping lawyers to defend him in the numerous federal and state criminal cases involving him.

Through it all, Trump's loyal, silent followers will stay with him. They don't know why, but they will.

Also, they will not read this report. They avoid learning reality.

 

CBS reports, "Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 37 felony counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. This is the first time the Department of Justice has ever charged a former president with a crime.

"Trump was released on his own recognizance after the 45-minute proceeding. As a condition of his release, he is barred from talking to his aide Walt Nauta, who was charged on six counts in the 44-page indictment, about the case.

"Trump will not be required to relinquish his passport and there will be no limit on his domestic or international travel. He departed the courthouse just before 4 p.m. ET."

And now the poor suckers, otherwise known as Trump's followers, are going to pay for his defense.

The Hill reports, "Former President Trump continued to fundraise off his second indictment by vowing to “never drop out” of the 2024 presidential race.

“They can indict me, they can arrest me, but I know – and the American people know – that I am an innocent man,” Trump wrote in a fundraising email. “My only offense is challenging the corrupt ruling class and fighting for the forgotten men and women of our country.”

Many sincerely hope that is true. If Trump is the Republican candidate for President in 2024, the Republican Party won't see the inside of the White House for a few decades.

 

ABC reports, "Consumer prices rose 4% last month compared to a year ago, dropping more than expected and bolstering hopes that inflation will return to normal levels.

'The fresh data for May arrives a day before the Federal Reserve will announce its latest rate decision as it determines whether to extend an aggressive series of rate increases last seen in the 1980s.

"Inflation slowed significantly from where it stood in April, when data showed a 4.9% jump in consumer prices compared to a year ago. The latest reading, however, is still double the Federal Reserve's inflation target of 2%.

"The cooling of prices suggests the Federal Reserve has gained further traction in its effort to decelerate economic growth and slash prices while averting a recession."

I suspect that our President will start getting better marks in the polls now, although he has absolutely no impact on inflation.

 

Sandy Shanks said:
Most of Trump's fans fall into two categories. One group refuses to follow the respected news media. They accept Trump's version that responsible news sources are "fake news" because they reveal what is happening to Trump. Consequently, this group is clueless.

The other group consists of anarchists. The loyalty of the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and other similar organizations to Donald Trump is a sure indication of their beliefs that government is bad. The Trump-led assault on our capitol by these groups helps to confirm this.
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NPR reports, "Former President Donald Trump appeared somber and quiet in a Miami courtroom, hands clasped and leaning back in his chair at times, speaking aloud only to utter the words "not guilty" to 37 federal counts stemming from his handling of classified documents.

"Astoundingly, it was the second time in three months that Trump has been indicted. And that's not counting the $5 million civil judgment against him for sexual abuse at the end of April.

"There are still two more criminal investigations looming (election interference in George and inciting Jan. 6 rampage), trials are coming, and Trump continues to be the front-runner for the Republican nomination.

Why is Trump's support growing? He has raised $7 million -- primarily for his defense -- since the federal indictment under the Espionage Act.

No one really knows, and Trump's followers aren't talking. It is conceivable they don't know why they support Trump other than their desire to disrupt government. Certainly, that is what the former President is doing.

There may also be an intelligence factor.

"President Trump famously declared during his 2016 campaign that he loved the “poorly educated” because voters with lower levels of schooling delivered an overwhelming share of votes to him," the conservative Washington Times.

Also, some Republican candidates for President are saying they will pardon a convicted Donald Trump. Obviously, these candidates do not mention the evidence against Trump or the provisions in the indictment. Similar to grassroots Republicans, they prefer to talk about our President, his son. Hillary Clinton, and her husband.

Trump has admitted to his crimes on audio and television. He did it again last night after his indictment.

As Trump feeds an astonishing amount of lies to his adoring fans -- who believe every word of it -- it continues to be a mystery why this man facing a federal indictment for misuse of our nation's closest secrets has so much support. It is a very strange phenomenon.

I suspect there will be no Republican response to this report.

 

The Republican Party is going down for the count. They will lose influence in Washington for at least the next two decades.

NPR reports, "Trump and his team seem to find a certain comfort in chaos. They've been here before — the Access Hollywood tape, firing an FBI director, the Mueller investigation, two impeachments, top lieutenants who flipped on him or went to jail, election conspiracies and now two indictments and two more criminal investigations to go.

"Most would be exhausted by continuing to be in the thick of it, but not Trump. Instead, he's trying to make this an opportunity. He has so insulated himself with such a significant portion of the GOP base, he's banking on increasing his support in the Republican primary. Note: Trump has raised $7 million from his fans since Thursday for his defense fund.

"Republicans, whose main source of information comes from conservative media, are saying they believe Trump. But the opposite is true for the rest of the country, including the group of voters who largely decide elections — independents who only lean toward one party or the other.

"Swing voters view Trump as toxic, and Republican strategists and pollsters say he's a main reason why the party has underperformed in the last three election cycles.

"That electability message hasn't filtered down to the rest of the party though."

Meaning grassroots Republicans, Trump's fans, who seem bent on taking the party down along with Trump.

And they are not talking.

 

It does not matter that Trump remains popular within the Republican Party, and that fans are paying for his defense fund. It doesn't matter that he remains the self-serving, narcissistic leader of the Republican Party, and the leading Republican candidate for the Presidency.

What matters is, can Trump win an election?

He hasn't yet.

Note: Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 to the very worst candidate the Democrats could have picked.

Want proof? The forum's Republicans are in hiding.

 

Yesterday, Attorney General Merrick Garland spoke to a television audience concerning the former Republican President's federal indictment. He was introduced by several news correspondents who said that he was defending his special counsel.

Special Counsel Jack Smith does not need defending!

Garland did not defend him. He praised him and explained the DOJ's role in the indictment.

Some news correspondents need to go back to correspondence school for retraining.

 

The Post reports, "The news release went out on May 3 from the Republican majority on the House Oversight Committee.

“Information provided by a whistleblower raises concerns that then-Vice President Biden allegedly engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national,” it alleged, quoting committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

"A letter from Comer and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) to the FBI, seeking the release of documentation of a June 2020 interview, wasn’t similarly hedged. The document, it claimed, “describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions.”

That was then. This is now. This is what Grassley and Comer are saying now.

“I don’t even know where they are. I just know they exist, because of what the report says. Now, maybe they don’t exist. But how will I know until the FBI tells us, are they showing us their work?” Grassley said Thursday.

“We don’t know if they’re legit or not, but we know that the foreign national claims he has them,” Comer said of the alleged recordings. Foreign national?

The Post continued, "But despite incremental new revelations about the form and about the push for the form to be released, nothing about the situation has changed from that first news release. Republicans are hyping a secondhand allegation from a single source — an allegation that was in the hands of Attorney General William P. Barr’s Justice Department in mid-2020 without leading to criminal charges or, it seems, any specific investigation.

Republicans are trying to draw attention away from their indicted former President, and it clearly is not working.

They, Jordan primarily, are also trying to get the DOJ to provide the evidence against Trump. That is not going to work, either. It is a futile attempt from the very beginning.

Once again, in a desperate attempt to defend their indicted party leader, they are making fools of themselves.

 

Foreign national!

Just how low can Republicans go?

So, a foreign national is attacking the President of the United States, and we know this. Several Republican Senators and Republican representatives, including committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), along with most grassroots Trump Republicans accept what the foreign national is saying about our President.

We also know that forum Republicans do not have the guts to respond to this and other reports (scan this thread for proof).

That low!

 

Trump is having a difficult time keeping lawyers.

CNN reports, "A lawyer who was representing former President Donald Trump in his defamation lawsuit against CNN said Friday that he was withdrawing from the case, in the latest sign of the break-up of the Trump legal team since the lawyer, Jim Trusty, and another Trump attorney stopped representing the former president in the criminal documents case against him.

“Mr. Trusty’s withdrawal is based upon irreconcilable differences between Counsel and Plaintiff and Counsel can no longer effectively and properly represent Plaintiff,” Trusty said in a filing requesting the court’s permission to withdraw.

"Trusty, along with attorney John Rowley, previously announced that they would not represent Trump in the charges that special counsel Jack Smith brought against the former president, related to the sensitive government documents he retained from his presidency and his alleged obstruction of the federal investigation into the handling of those materials.

 

Sorry, an afterthought.

Trump's popularity has soared since his criminal indictment. By far, he continues to be the leading Republican candidate for the Presidency, and the leader of the Republican Party.

His trial on the felony charges may or may not take place before the 2024 Presidential election.

How low can Republicans go?

They are willing to accept a convicted felon as President of the United States!

And, no doubt, their silence on this issue will continue.

These same Republicans chose our President once before. Will it happen again?

 

Americans must be wary of what both sides are saying about the war in Ukraine.

That said, CNN reports, "US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that President Joe Biden's administration is closely monitoring the situation between Russia and Belarus after President Vladimir Putin claimed Friday that Moscow has deployed tactical nuclear weapons to the neighboring country.

"The US has "no reason to adjust" its nuclear posture and doesn't "see any indications" that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon, Blinken said at a news conference Friday"

In other words, it is just the usual Putin saber-rattling. He has been doing this since his invasion of Ukraine. He really is filled with B.S.

CNN continued, "US President Joe Biden is comfortable with removing one of the hurdles for Ukraine to join NATO.

"Biden would be willing to drop the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Ukraine, which was described in a 2008 agreement as “the next step for Ukraine ... on their direct way to membership.” The MAP, characterized as “the program of advice, assistance and practical support tailored to the individual needs of countries wishing to join the Alliance,” is a process that other nations have had to undertake to join NATO.

Why this matters: Its removal would represent a small step in easing Ukraine’s accession into the defensive alliance.

"It is part of a proposal from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and was discussed when the two leaders met in Washington earlier this week."

 

This comes as no surprise. China will not provide Russia with lethal weapons.

CNN reports, "China has assured that it has not and will not provide lethal aid to Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday.

Blinked said the assurance is appreciated and there is no evidence to contradict them.

"What we do have ongoing concerns about, though, are Chinese firms — companies that may be providing technology that Russia can use to advance its aggression in Ukraine. And we've asked the Chinese government to be very vigilant about that," Blinken said.

"China's assurance was not new to him during his visit, Blinken said in response to a question from CNN's Kylie Atwood. "This is something that China has said in recent weeks, and has repeatedly said not only to us, but to many other countries that have raised this concern."

Chinese leaders are businessmen now. China's economy is second only to the United States. Her leaders do not want to mess with that. They certainly do not want to get involved in the messy war begun by Putin.

In a very real sense, Putin has already lost this war on the military, economic, and diplomatic fronts. Why in the world would Chinese leaders get involved?

They wouldn't.

 

Attorney General Merrick Garland is a political wimp who has a deathly fear of his responsibilities in the face of stark reality. This has been known to many, and now the Washington Post confirms it.

The Post reports, "Hours after he was sworn in as attorney general, Merrick Garland and his deputies gathered in a wood-paneled conference room in the Justice Department for a private briefing on the investigation he had promised to make his highest priority: bringing to justice those responsible for the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

"In the two months since the siege, federal agents had conducted 709 searches, charged 278 rioters and identified 885 likely suspects, said Michael R. Sherwin, then-acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, ticking through a slide presentation. Garland and some of his deputies nodded approvingly at the stats, and the new attorney general called the progress “remarkable,” according to people in the room."

What a sham. Garland went after the foot soldiers while ignoring the leaders. This went on for quite a while even though the January Sixth Select Committee in the House did much of the work for him with respect to Trump.

The Post continued, "Sherwin refused to rule out the possibility that President Donald Trump himself could be culpable. “We are looking at all actors, not only the people who went into the building,” Sherwin said in response to a reporter’s question about Trump. “If the evidence fits the elements of a crime, they’re going to be charged.”

"But according to a copy of the briefing document, absent from Sherwin’s 11-page presentation to Garland on March 11, 2021, was any reference to Trump or his advisers — those who did not go to the Capitol riot but orchestrated events that led to it (proving once again that Garland is good at rhetoric, but not so good at taking action based on the rhetoric).

"A Washington Post investigation found that more than a year would pass before prosecutors and FBI agents jointly embarked on a formal probe of actions directed from the White House to try to steal the election. Even then, the FBI stopped short of identifying the former president as a focus of that investigation."

To this day, two and a half years later, nothing has been done. Garland and his special counsel, Jack Smith, are sitting on the mountain of evidence implicating the former Republican President.

While the documents case is important -- a threat to our national security, actually -- an attempt by the President to overthrow our elected government is far more serious!

Meanwhile, Garland does nothing regarding Trump's insurrection attempt.

 

Don't get your hopes up. This will be going on for months. Hopefully, there is a trial before the elections so that voters will be fully informed.

Politico reports, "Donald Trump’s criminal trial for hoarding military secrets at Mar-a-Lago has a starting date — Aug. 14 — but don’t expect it to hold.

"U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon bookmarked the last two weeks in August for the historic trial, part of an omnibus order setting some early ground rules and deadlines for the case. That would represent a startlingly rapid pace for a case that is expected to be complicated and require lengthy pretrial wrangling over extraordinarily sensitive classified secrets.

"But a review of Cannon’s criminal cases since she took the bench in late 2020 suggests this is standard practice for the Florida-based judge. She typically sets trial dates six to eight weeks from the start of a case, only to allow weeks- or months-long delays as issues arise and the parties demand more time to prepare. While her order on Tuesday starts the clock on a slew of important pretrial matters in the Trump case, it’s not likely to resemble anything close to the timeframe that will ultimately govern the case.

"Cannon’s order comes after a weekend in which Trump continued to raise eyebrows — and certainly catch the ear of his prosecutors — with a Fox News interview in which he acknowledged intentionally withholding documents from the federal government, claiming he wanted to sift through them for personal items."

In other words, Trump is now claiming that his golf shirts and shoes were mixed in with Top Secret documents vital to our nation's security.

Trump needs help. He is not well.

But he is adored by a majority of grassroots Republicans -- who shall remain silent -- that think he will make a good President ... again.

 

Apparently, Fox's Brit Hume agrees with that analysis.

Yahoo!News reports, "Longtime Fox News analyst Brit Hume didn’t hold back on Monday after Donald Trump’s rambling performance during an interview with the right-wing network.

“His answers on the matters of the law seem to me to verge on incoherent,” he told Bret Baier, who spoke with the former president.

"Trump, who pleaded not guilty last week to 37 charges related to the classified documents scandal, said he didn’t give back the material when subpoenaed because he’s been “very busy” and hasn’t had the time to go through the boxes to sort out his personal items.

"Hume attempted to sum up Trump’s comments to Baier: “He seemed to be saying that the documents were really his, and that he didn’t give them back when he was requested to do so and when they were subpoenaed because, y’know, he wasn’t ready to because he hadn’t sorted them and separated the classified information or whatever from his golf shirts or whatever he was saying.”

"Eventually, Hume practically gave up trying to decipher it.

“It was not altogether clear what he was saying, but he seemed to believe that the documents were his, that he had declassified them ― evidence to the contrary ― and therefore he could do whatever he wanted with them,” he said. “I don’t think it’s gonna hold up in court.”

"Hume also noted that Baier gave Trump a chance to deliver a message to the suburban female voters that turned against him in 2020.

“His answer was to talk about how he didn’t lose the 2020 election,” Hume noted. “I don’t think that’s an appealing message for the future.”

"He said the interview probably didn’t go over very well among those trying to advise the former president.

“I’m sure his legal and political advisers were wincing all the way through his answers on both those points.” he concluded.

 

This is surreal! Hard to believe that elected representatives in our Congress are dumb enough to want to impeach our President because they disagree with his decisions.

But it is true. Far-right Republican representatives in the House want to introduce Articles of Impeachment of President Biden.

Praise the Lord, some Republicans have not lost their minds.

CNN reports, "Speaker Kevin McCarthy urged House Republicans to vote against the resolution brought forward by GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado forcing a vote to impeach President Joe Biden this week, arguing now is not the right time, multiple sources in the closed door meeting told CNN.

"House Republicans are divided over Boebert’s resolution, with a number of members emerging from the meeting expressing frustration with the conservative congresswoman’s push to force a vote on the politically contentious issue.

"McCarthy argued that Republicans should let committee investigations play out and warning that jumping to impeachment now could threaten their slim majority, the sources said. The speaker noted that House Republicans have taken back the House five times in the last 100 years, and two of those times lost the majority the next cycle.

"A number of House Republicans have filed articles of impeachment against Biden since the party took the House majority, but Boebert made a specific procedural move on Tuesday that would force the chamber to vote on the impeachment of Biden this week.

"It’s not clear when the vote will happen, if at all. Boebert told CNN she would not force the full House to vote Wednesday night, and it’s still possible a vote to kill the impeachment resolution could happen later this week."

Note: The two major articles deal with Biden's handling of border issues, and the withdrawal of the U.S. from our nation's longest war, Afghanistan, hardly impeachable offenses but these are right-wing Republicans. Intelligence is not expected.

 

"Attorney General Merrick Garland pushed back Wednesday against GOP accusations that the Justice Department’s plea agreement with Hunter Biden reflects a double standard of preferential treatment for Democrats," CNN.

Republicans are making complete fools of themselves ... again. They can be forgiven. The Republican politicians are talking to Trump's fans, and they are not very bright. They think responsible news is "fake news" because Trump says so.

People are not imprisoned for tax fraud if they have paid the taxes and all fees and penalties. Hunter Biden has done that.

Crack addicts who buy a gun are not placed in prison. The gun is taken away, and the addict is told not to do it again. Hunter was that addict.

Republicans are comparing the treatment Trump is getting for stealing the nation's classified documents with the treatment Hunter is getting, and are saying the President's son is getting preferential treatment, an assertion that is about as ludicrous as it gets.

Comparing Trump's crimes to Hunter's crimes is like comparing a speeding ticket to robbing a bank. Republicans are paying a dear price for their self-respect to stand in front of a television camera and compare the two.

A.G. Garland explains.

CNN continued, "Garland was pressed during a news conference in Sweden to address accusations from Republican lawmakers that Hunter Biden merely received a “slap on the wrist” while former President Donald Trump was criminally indicted.

"Garland rejected the idea, pointing to the fact that the US attorney in Delaware tasked with investigating Biden’s son was appointed under the Trump administration.

"Garland’s remarks come after David Weiss, the US attorney overseeing the Biden criminal probe, told House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan in a letter that he had full autonomy over any decision making on the case.

“I have been granted ultimate authority over this matter, including responsibility for deciding where, when, and whether to file charges and for making decisions necessary to preserve the integrity of the prosecution, consistent with federal law, the Principles of Federal Prosecution, and Departmental regulations,” Weiss wrote in the letter.

"The attorney general said that any further questions to “explain” the plea agreement should be directed to the US attorney in Delaware."

Did I say that in their pathetic defense of the hapless Trump, who stole some of our nation's top secrets, some Republicans are making complete fools of themselves? Others are smart enough to stay the hell away from this Republican catastrophe brought on by Trump's uninformed fans.

By a lengthy margin, Trump remains the leading Republican candidate for the Presidency in 2024. Of course, it is expected that Trump's fans will not respond to this report.

 

Incredible, Republicans have done it again. Following attempts by Republicans Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert to impeach the President, the Republican-led House censured Adam Schiff for comments he made a few years back.

This has to be read to be believed. Even then, belief is hard to muster.

ABC reports, "In a a rare move, the House passed a censure resolution along party lines on Wednesday night against Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. -- punishing one of the chamber's own members and inflaming rhetoric on both sides of the aisle.

"The vote was 213-209, with Republicans voting yes, Democrats voting no and six GOP lawmakers voting present.

"Schiff, a former intel committee chair, was censured over comments he made years ago during investigations into former President Donald Trump and the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, which interfered in the 2016 election to aid Trump. (The lies as described by McCarthy are ludicrous and entirely meaningless today. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/01/kevin-mccarthy-schiff-adam-lies-intelligence-committee/)."

The [Republican] Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday [4/21/2020] reaffirmed its support for the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election with the goal of putting Donald Trump in the Oval Office. https://www.politico.com/news/2020/...rms-russia-aimed-to-help-trump-in-2016-198171

ABC continued, "Schiff called it a "false and defamatory resolution.

"My colleagues, if there is cause for censure in this House -- and there is -- it should be directed at those in this body who sought to overturn a free and fair election," Schiff said.

Note: In all, 147 Republicans voted to overturn the 2020 Presidential election. 139 were House Republicans. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/01/07/us/elections/electoral-college-biden-objectors.html

Contrast Schiff's investigation of the Russian government interfering in the 2020 Presidential election for the benefit of the Republican candidate with the investigations being conducted by committee chairmen James Comer (R-Ky.) and Jim Jordan.

The former is based on solid evidence provided by our intelligence agencies and recognized by the Republican Senate Intelligence Committee in April, 2020.

Comer's and Jordan's investigations are based on political bias, unknown whistleblowers, a foreign national, speculation, innuendo, and "I think so." Their investigations are not based on evidence because there isn't any. Gradually, Comer is starting to admit that fact. Jordan would investigate his mother if he thought it would benefit him politically.

It is demoralizing that House Republicans could be this short-sighted. After all, they make up half of our legislative body.

 

Finally, the DOJ is moving on Donald Trump's foolish attempt to overthrow our elected government.

It has been a while. Trump's insurrection scheme began in November 2020.

Incidentally, the continued silence from Republicans tells us a great deal about the Republican Party.

CNN reports, "Special counsel Jack Smith has compelled at least two Republican fake electors to testify to a federal grand jury in Washington in recent weeks by giving them limited immunity, part of a current push by federal prosecutors to swiftly nail down evidence in the sprawling criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

"The testimony, described to CNN by people familiar with the situation, comes after a year of relative dormancy around the fake electors portion of the investigation and as a parade of related witnesses are being told to appear before the grand jury with no chance for delay.

"That activity could signal that investigators are nearing at least some charging decisions in a part of the 2020 election probe, sources added. It also comes just as the special counsel’s office filed charges against former President Donald Trump for his handling of classified documents.

"Prosecutors have played hardball with some of the witnesses in recent weeks, refusing to grant extensions to grand jury subpoenas for testimony and demanding they comply before the end of this month, sources said. In the situations where prosecutors have given witnesses immunity, the special counsel’s office arrived at the courthouse in Washington ready to compel their testimony after the witnesses indicated they would decline to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment.

"Prosecutors have also continued to focus on potential financial crimes and money laundering after Trump raised millions of dollars off false claims the election was stolen.

"In recent weeks, the special counsel’s office has also shown interest in several members of Trump’s post-election legal team who promoted baseless claims of widespread voter fraud, including his former lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, as well as former Justice Department appointee Jeffrey Clark, who tried to help Trump’s push to use the Department of Justice to overturn the election."

The inherent problem with Trump is a lack of intelligence coupled with a sincere belief that he is immune from our nation's law. Recently, Trump has found this is not the case. Still, Republicans in Congress and those running for President defend him.

Go figure!

I don't understand that, either, but apparently, the forum's Republicans do as evidenced by their silence on this matter.

 

What the heck is going on with Russian forces in Ukraine? This is all very strange.

CNN reports, "Russia’s domestic intelligence service has opened a criminal case against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of private military group Wagner, after he appeared to cross a red line with the Kremlin on Friday when he vowed to retaliate against the country’s military leadership for what he described as strikes launched against his forces.

"In a series of Telegram posts on Friday, Prigozhin accused Russian forces of striking a Wagner military camp. “A huge amount of our fighters were killed,” he said, in a radical escalation of a longstanding feud with Russia’s military leaders.

"Russia’s Ministry of Defense denied the claims, calling it an “informational provocation.”

"The mercenary, who has frequently criticized Russia’s traditional military hierarchy, then warned that retribution would be meted out. “We will deal with those who destroy Russian soldiers and return to the front, justice for the troops will be restored, and then justice for all of Russia,” he said.

"He said that his forces would “destroy” any resistance, including roadblocks and aircraft, suggesting the disagreement could turn into warfare."