Fiendish Thingy
Fiendish Thingy's JournalExcellent summary of DOJ's January 6 investigation/prosecutions at emptywheel.net
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/12/08/a-taxonomy-of-the-visible-january-6-crime-scene-investigation/If you have posted on DU complaining about Garland and DOJs supposed lack of action against the insurrectionists, this is essential reading to avoid embarrassing yourself further.
A sample:
Proving these interlocking conspiracies would be vital to moving up from the militias, because it shows the premeditation involved in the assault on the Capitol. DOJ hasnt rolled this out yet, but they seem to be very very close.
(Snip)
But in the last six months or so, it seems that DOJ has been more selective about which of the 2,000 2,500 people who entered the Capitol they choose to arrest, based off investigative necessities. After all, in addition to being defendants, these MAGA Tourists are also witnesses to more serious crimes. Now that DOJ has set up a steady flow of plea deals for misdemeanors, people are pleading guilty more quickly. With just a few exceptions, the vast majority of those charged or who have pled down to trespassing charges have agreed to a cooperation component (entailing an FBI interview and sharing social media content) as part of their plea deal. And DOJ seems to be arresting the trespassers who, for whatever reason, may be useful cooperating witnesses for the larger investigation. I started collecting some of what misdemeanant cooperation will yield, but it includes:
Video or photographic evidence
Hard as it may be to understand, there were parts of the riot that were not, for a variety of reasons, well captured by government surveillance footage. And a significant number of misdemeanor defendants seem to be arrested because they can be seen filming with their phones on what surveillance footage does exist, and are known to have traveled to places where such surveillance footage appears to be unavailable or less useful. The government has or seems to be using evidence from other defendants to understand what happened:
(Snip)
TV lawyers seem certain that Trump could be charged with incitement, without considering that to charge that, DOJ would first have to collect evidence that people responded to his words by invading the Capitol or even engaging in violence.
.
Much more at link- highly recommended.
Marcy Wheeler shreds those who whine that Garland is taking too long to indict Trump:
https://www.emptywheel.net/2021/12/03/ten-things-tv-lawyers-can-do-rather-than-whinging-about-merrick-garland/Its not that I dont understand the gravity of the threat. I absolutely share the panic of those who believe that if something doesnt happen by midterms, Republicans will take over the House and shut every last bit of accountability down. I agree the threat to democracy is grave.
But there is no rule that permits DOJ to skip investigative steps and due process simply because people have invested in DOJ as the last bulwark of democracy, or because the target is the greatest threat to democracy America has faced since the Civil War. DOJ investigations take time. And that is one reason why, if people are hoping some damning indictment will save our democracy, theyre investing their hopes in the wrong place, because an investigation into Trump simply will not be rolled out that quickly. Even if Trump were indicted by mid-terms, the Republicans have invested so much energy into delegitimizing rule of law its not clear it would sway Fox viewers or even independent voters.
I cant tell you whether DOJ will indict Trump. I can tell you that if they do, it will not come in time to be the one thing that saves democracy.
Lots, lots more at link- this is a scathing, detailed, evidence based take down of the medias prevailing narrative. Highly recommended.
The President's party ALWAYS loses the VA gov race the year after a new president takes office
This year is no different than 1977, 1981,1989, 1993, 2001, 2009, 2017.
People are overthinking this WAAAY too much.
In fact, this may be the narrowest Democratic loss in 40 years.
Sen. Warren is optimistic that a deal on Build Back Better is near:
Sinema sees Paris
Jayapal on Rachel just now: CPC will vote no on bipartisan bill if Senate doesn't pass BBB first
She implied that Pelosis scheduled vote this Thursday on the bipartisan bill is a soft date, and the vote wont happen if the senate hasnt passed the Build Back Better reconciliation bill first.
Also, Jayapal told WaPo last night that CPC no votes on the bipartisan bill (before reconciliation passes) grew from from 40 no votes on Friday, to 60 no votes yesterday. Those will all be yes votes once the reconciliation bill passes the senate.
Jayapal and her caucus arent playing. This could be the most intense legislative week in Congress in a long time.
EDITED TO ADD:
The centrist saboteurs are floating the talking point that only the framework for the reconciliation bill needs to pass the house and senate (what Jayapal has called pre-conferencing) before Thursday in order to vote on the bipartisan bill in the house, however, Jayapal made clear tonight on Rachel that passing the framework alone is not enough to gain the support of the CPC on Thursday- they wont support the bipartisan bill until the reconciliation bill has passed.
The AZ Fraudit didn't prove a damn thing
I sure wish folks would stop saying the AZ audit by the Cyber Ninjas proves Biden won by even more votes!
That kind of framing gives legitimacy to a corrupt process that was anything but legitimate.
Better framing:
The AZ Fraudit failed to prove Trumps Big Lie that the election was stolen.
From CNN: Clyburn says there's a "possibility" that 9/27 vote on bipartisan bill will be delayed
https://apple.news/AYe-I6m9LTLevOPjjcLJd_ANot to say I told you so, but I did.
Pelosi will not bring the bipartisan bill up for a vote unless and until the senate passes the reconciliation bill, in whatever form it may end up.
List of companies with Texas headquarters:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Texas_companiesOf particular note:
Airlines- American Airlines, Southwest
AT&T
7-11
Kimberley-Clark, maker of paper products, including womens hygiene products (dont switch to Koch owned Georgia-Pacific products)
Lots of restaurant chains, computer companies, and of course, oil companies.
Let your dollars be your voice.
9 Blue Dogs stall infrastructure; CPC: 95 can play that game
Its called All or Nothing.
If the Blue Dogs force a vote on the bipartisan bill before the reconciliation bill, the Progressives, or a significant portion of them, can block passage. Fact is, Pelosi wont even let it come to the floor if that is the case. The Blue Dogs, on the other hand, are already on record opposing the advancement of the reconciliation bill.
Theoretically, the Blue Dogs are much more vulnerable to charges of failure to govern, gridlock, and politics as usual from their swing state voters than the progressives are in their safe blue districts. Primary challenges from other centrists who support Bidens agenda, and the fact that 4 of these Blue Dogs may lose their seats in TX/GA to gerrymandering in 2022 should extinguish this political theatre quickly.
So, by all means, Rep. Gottheimer and his band of merry mutineers, please proceed.
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