Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s co-defendant, Meadows, wants his case moved to Fed Court. Here’s why his claim should fail.
The Lincoln Project – Tucker & Trump
PoliticsGirl – Come On, Man
Armageddon Update – The 4 Horsemen Of The TRUMPOCALYPSE!
Orangutan Babysits Tiger Cubs
Beau – Let’s talk about leopards, opportunity, and a likely underreported story….
Yesterday, I was astonished to receive a “Tuesday Trivia” email from Ken Jennings. He stopped doing those years ago (after having done 800 of them.) But this one is because he has a new book. And I have to think that this is a terrific marketing strategy – emails to a list of people who followed you for 800 weeks (that’s more than 15 years.) If you are curious about the book, the trivia, or both, you can see the questions and answers here (I got two- Mahler and Marley – which is IIRC about average for me, and I don’t remember ever getting a Question 7.) The book is a compendium of everything anyone has ever believed about the afterlife, through history and across cultures, and down at the bottom of the page there is a left arrow (much like the ones under our comment sections) to the book’s main page.
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The New Yorker – Will the Judge in Trump’s Case Recuse Herself—or Be Forced To?
Quote – Someone has to win the lottery, right? [On Saturday, just after we spoke, the Southern District confirmed to the Times that Cannon was randomly chosen, stating, “Normal procedures were followed.” Because the judge was chosen based, in part, on proximity to West Palm Beach, Cannon was one of seven active judges and three senior judges in the pool for the random draw.]
Click through for more speculation. I have used two videos, one in Sunday’s video thread and one in yesterday’s, made by Michael Popok for Meidas Touch. He lives and has worked in the Southern District of Florida, and is the only attorney I have found who points out that Cannon is in the Palm Beach Division, whereas the grand jury and the indictment and the arraignment (and presumably the trial itself) are in the Miami Division – not only a separate Division, but als a 200-mile round trip if it comes to that. He is also the only one to notice that the Magistrate Judge assigned is from the Miami Divison. This is going to have to be addressed. A 200 mile round trip is four hours – and that’s in Colorado, which is much less highly populated than southern Florida. It’s not reasonable to expect that of anyone. I am expecting less bickering than many experts are expecting.
HuffPost – Donald Trump Becomes First U.S. President To Be Formally Charged With Federal Crimes
Quote – Trump lawyer Todd Blanche entered the plea on Trump’s behalf shortly after 3 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, according to reporters in the room. Trump spent much of the time stonefaced, arms crossed, as the proceeding unfolded over the course of an hour. The judge released both Trump and co-defendant Walt Nauta, a personal aide to Trump, without bail and travel restrictions. Trump was, however, ordered not to contact or speak with witnesses about the case, including Nauta, who continues to work for him.
Click through for story. As expected, the presiding judge was a Magiatrate Judge, not a District Judge, and specifically, one from the Miami Division (also specifically, not Judge Reinhart.) I’m going to avoid as much as possible even mentioning Judge Cannon, unless something comes up that is factual in nature and well-substantiated, because – to quote C. S. Lewis quoting an inagined afterlife spirit of George MacDonald, “all answers deceive.”
The Nib (Kay Sohini) – Breathless
Quote – I grew up in a sleepy little suburb parallel to the Ganges, and we were forever privy to a vast expanse of sky stretching from the shore. On the weekends after dinner, my grandfather woud take us stargazing. We only had to walk up to the roof. When I moved to Calcutta for college,… I could not see the stars. And I could not breathe.
Click through for graphic essay. This is the last one I have been sitting on, but I don’t rule out using another if one comes up.
Food For Thought
Yes, Glenn posted, but i am still usig this Meidas Touch/Legal AF with Michael Popok (despite the commercial in the misddle) because heis actually in the Southern District, even in the Miami Division, and knows what is specifically usual in the Miami Division as well as when things are different from the usual.
The Lincoln Project – Trump’s Federal Indictment
Thom Hartmann – Alarming New U.N. Report Proves Feminists Right – Want to Know What Men REALLY Think About Women??? (Other 79 countries – don’t get smug.)
Bruce W Nelson (“Mangy Fetlocks”) – Trump’s Hiding Places — Lyrics here https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017835797
Cat Rolls Down The Stairs 5x A Day
Beau – Let’s talk about misconceptions about Trump in Florida….
Yesterday, the first Federal Trump** indictment was unsealed. I posted a “breaking news” update on the Open Thread as soon as i saw it, but in case you missied it, the news was 37 counts. (I presume 7 charges is still correct. It’s 49 pages and I didn’t go through it in full. But “conspiracy” was one, “obstruction of justice” was one, and “willful retention under the Espionage Act” was one. The Espionage Act, combined with the Federal rules for venue, explains why Florida. We now know that for certain.
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NPR “Shots” – For many, a ‘natural death’ may be preferable to enduring CPR
Quote – So why the controversy? It comes down to a widespread misconception of what CPR can, and can’t, do. CPR can sometimes save lives, but it also has a dark side…. The allure of CPR is that “death, instead of a final and irrevocable passage, becomes a process manipulable by humans,” writes Stefan Timmermans, a sociologist who has studied CPR…. “It seems too good to be true,” he said, and it is.
Click through for details. I won’t try to address every possible complication here – but this highlights the importance of Living Wills/DNR orders – and maybe even more the importance of respecting them.
Robert Reich – Should we be worried about RFK Jr.?
Quote – Were it not for his illustrious name, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would be just another crackpot in the growing number of bottom-feeding right-wing fringe politicians seeking high office. But the Robert F. Kennedy brand is political gold. RFK Jr. is now polling in the double digits against Biden. The latest CNN poll, taken less than three weeks ago, has him at 20 percent.
Click through for article. As always, click “keep reading” or whatever on the popup. His father would be APPALLED.
The New Yorker – The Legal Dynamics of Trump’s Second Indictment
Quote – Q – What are the considerations when the government approaches cases involving classified documents? A – There are a slew of them. From the government’s perspective, the crux of the matter is how much classified information they are willing to reveal, because the defendant has a constitutional right to confront the evidence against him. This means that the government cannot split the difference; it can’t convict someone based on evidence they are not allowed to see. So oftentimes how the government charges a case like this and how they try a case like this reflect decisions about what they are and aren’t willing to disclose.
Click through for full interview. The writer is not a lawyer, but the interviewee is, and is an expert on national-security law. I’ve already used the New Yorker once this month, so if you are paywalled out, email me and I’ll send it by return.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, Pat Robertson died. He was 93. “I was always taught never to say anything about the dead unless it’s good. He’s dead. Good.” – Moms Mabley. You can read about it in lots of places (AP is one) but this Wonkette remembrance may be the most – satisfying. Also yesterday, it was dry enough to put the sticker om my car (and of course put a copy of the registration into the glove box). So I did. We’re expecting more rain, so I carped the diem. And one more thing: Trump** stated publicly that he has been indicted (in the documents case).
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Crooks & Liars – FL GOPers Panicking As Immigrants Flee Ahead Of New Law
Quote – Florida Republicans concerned about the state’s new anti-immigration law and its potential impacts on Florida’s economy… admit the bill is “100% meant to scare” immigrants and beg the crowd to “urgently” convince “your people” to not leave Florida since folks in the agriculture industry are mad workers are leaving.
Click through for story. Now that the debt ceiling is off the table for a while, the news stream is so fast and furious that I think I’ll have to do three a day for a while to catch up. Just for a while. I won’t be able to keep it up.
HuffPost – DHS Launches Major Effort To Stem Human Trafficking In Indigenous Communities
Quote – One of the “brutal realities” is that Native women command more money from sex traffickers, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has been a leader in combating violence against Indigenous women, previously told HuffPost. “Native women, because of their looks, can be viewed as more exotic, more Asian, and apparently there is a higher market for women that are of Asian descent,” Murkowski said. “When I heard that, it just … It just sickens me.”
Click through for details. It’s no surprise that people who would profit from, or pay into, human trafficking objectify women. But this certainly brings that fact home.
Civil Discourse . Today in Trump
Quote – Venue, as a legal proposition, is the place or location where conduct that prosecutors want to charge took place—the judicial district where the crime was committed. Sometimes that’s obvious, like in a bank robbery. Other times, it can be more difficult to determine, and there may be more than one possible venue. Imagine a drug-dealing network that operates across a region of the country. There can be more than one proper venue for a case. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 18 provides that “Unless a statute or these rules permit otherwise, the government must prosecute an offense in a district where the offense was committed.[“]
Click through for more explanation and the news which prompted it. As usual, click “no” or “continue” on the popup(s). Venue decisions may be the most important ones that DOJ must make in these cases. I don’t want anyone here to be crying “foul!” if Jack Smith ends up trying the documents cse in Florida. If that happens, it will be because it was legally necessary.
Food For Thought
Raw News and Politics – Trump Investigations – March 13, 2023 Updates (Glenn skipped a day over the weeekend. So far I’ve kept up, butit’s getting tougher, so I’m throwing this in. She’s not an attorney, or at least I don’t think so, but for that very reason she’s willing to share a little speculation which Glenn wouldn’t touch.)
The Lincoln Project – Only Way
MSNBC – Now Trump is suggesting Pence is responsible for Jan. 6 (Domestic abuser: :She made me hit her!)
Ring of Fire – Republican Groomers Kill Bill To Ban Child Marriages
Picky Senior Cat Only Eats When She’s Being Pet
Beau – Let’s talk about Minnesota making moves….
A few days ago, the newsletter I get every week from the Project on Government Oversight included a request for me to edit, sign, and send a letter to President Joe asking him to fire the IG of DHS. Most of the time I am not able to add much of anything to the letters that groups draft asking for change. This one was different. I never liked even the idea of a Department of Homeland Security – it seemed too nationalistic to me from the get-go. And the longer it exists, the less I like it. If we must have an agency that combines the functions which come under DHS (as opposed to having those functions split up, as we did before it was formed), then it absolutely needs to be subject to the State Department. Our national security is totally contingent upon our foreign relations, and those are not helped by DHS continually and blatantly breaking international law. I do get it that with the nation so ridiculously divided now may not be the best time to absorb DHS into State. But at the very least, it needs a tough IG of unimpeachable integrity, and Cuffari, the current holder of that post, is exactly the opposite. And I put most of that into the letter before sending it. Here’s the link, and besides the letter, there is some background on Cuffari and his – I’ll be overly generous and call it incompetence (but I absolutely believe there’s also malice there.)
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Crooks and Liars – Epstein’s Brother: Jeffrey Ran From 45 Because Trump Was A Crook
Quote – According to what Jeffrey’s brother, Mark, told Business Insider, his now-deceased brother distanced himself from Trump because the former President was “a crook.” Imagine being too slimy for a pedophile. And there is unaired footage of an interview by Jeffrey Epstein conducted by Steve Bannon after his brother forwarded it to him in the spring of 2019.
Click through for story – it’s short. Just for the benefit of anyone whose first reaction is, “Mark is his brother. Of course he would try to put Jeffrey in the best light [or in this case the least awful light],” some people’s families do tell the unvarnished truth about them. Stephen Miller. Paul Gosar. That does not necessrily mean I believe Mark, but I won’t just dismiss what he says either.
Robert Reich – The real story behind the Silicon Valley Bank debacle
Quote – The surface story of the Silicon Valley Bank debacle is straightforward. During the pandemic, startups and technology companies enjoyed heady profits, some of which they deposited in the Silicon Valley Bank. Flush with their cash, the bank did what banks do: It kept a fraction on hand and invested the rest — putting a large share into long-dated Treasury bonds that promised good returns when interest rates were low. But then, starting a little more than a year ago, the Fed raised interest rates from near zero to over 4.5 percent. As a result, two things happened. The value of the Silicon Valley Bank’s holdings of Treasury bonds plummeted because newer bonds paid more interest. And, as interest rates rose, the gusher of venture capital funding to startup and tech companies slowed, because venture funds had to pay more to borrow money. As a result, these startup and tech companies had to withdraw more of their money from the bank to meet their payrolls and other expenses.
Click through for details. Responsible parents teach children self – discipline, not only for the sake of society, but to help their children to succeed, because, without self-control, you won’t. Responsible governments regulate – and that’s really for the same reasons. This case may be less egregious than some others we have seen. What will it take to convince people that regulation is NOT a bad thing?
Iterestingly, HEather Cox Richardson also concentrated on the bank failur in he Letter from an American.
Food For Thought
Let’s see them do this with those other constants.
Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump announces he WILL continue to run for the presidency even if he’s criminally indicted
The Lincoln Project – It’s Time
Robert Reich – Debunking “No One Wants To Work Anymore”
Brent Terhune – They Cancelled Dilbert
This Pregnant Pittie Foster Story Is The Happiest Thing Ever
Beau – Let’s talk about cookies, college, and cons….