Polybius
Polybius's JournalNY-03 prediction for George Santos' old seat:
Democrat Tom Suozzi defeats Republican Mazi Pilip 52%-48%. Turnout will be light because of heavy snow.
White House frustration with Garland grows
Source: Politico
Joe Biden has told aides and outside advisers that Attorney General Merrick Garland did not do enough to rein in a special counsel report stating that the president had diminished mental faculties, according to two people close to the president, as White House frustration with the head of the Justice Department grows.
The report from special counsel Robert Hur ultimately cleared Biden of any charges stemming from his handling of classified documents that were found at Biden’s think tank and his home. But Hur’s explanation for not bringing charges — that Biden would have persuaded the jury that he was a forgetful old man — upended the presidential campaign and infuriated the White House.
Biden and his closest advisers believe Hur went well beyond his purview and was gratuitous and misleading in his descriptions, according to those two people, who were granted anonymity to speak freely. And they put part of the blame on Garland, who they say should have demanded edits to Hur’s report, including around the descriptions of Biden’s faltering memory.
In White House meetings, aides have questioned why Garland felt the need to appoint a special counsel in the first place, though Biden has publicly said he supported the decision.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/09/white-house-frustration-with-garland-grows-00140813
GOP lawmaker asks Merrick Garland to invoke 25th Amendment to remove Biden from office
Source: NBC News
Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., is calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Joe Biden from office after special counsel Robert Hur’s report said that while the president should not be prosecuted for mishandling classified documents, he does suffer from a poor memory.
In a letter to Garland Thursday, Tenney expressed her “grave concerns” about Hur’s findings. She said that Hur’s reasons for not bringing charges against Biden, even though the president “knowingly and willfully removed, mishandled, and disclosed classified documents” over a period of decades, were “alarming.”
Hur said the president’s practices had presented “serious risks to national security,” and described in his report several instances of the president suffering from memory loss. He added that part of the reason he didn’t pursue charges against Biden was because the president could portray himself as an “elderly man with poor memory” who would be sympathetic to a jury.
Tenney criticized that reasoning in her letter to Garland.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/gop-lawmaker-asks-merrick-garland-invoke-25th-amendment-remove-biden-o-rcna138112
Supreme Court seems skeptical of kicking Trump off election ballot during landmark hearing
Source: Yahoo! News
The United States Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments in a landmark case that will decide whether former President Donald Trump is ineligible to run for a second term in office because of his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which culminated in the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Throughout the hearing, however, both liberal and conservative justices seemed highly skeptical of the decision by the Colorado Supreme Court to remove Trump from state ballots based on its reading of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars those who have taken an oath of office and later "engaged in insurrection" from holding office gain.
Trump appealed the Colorado ruling to the Supreme Court, arguing that Section 3 doesn't apply to presidents and that Congress, not the states or courts, is the only body that can remove candidates from ballots.
Like several conservative justices, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson pressed plaintiffs' lawyer Jason Murray on whether Section 3 applied to presidents.
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-seems-skeptical-of-kicking-trump-off-election-ballot-during-landmark-hearing-full-coverage-140348787.html
What do you think the Supreme Court's vote will be on Trump's Eligibility (14th Amendment)?
In favor of Trump: 5-4, 6-3, 7-2, 8-1, 9-0Against Trump: 5-4, 6-3, 7-2, 8-1, 9-0
Man Allegedly Posed as Minor Online to Meet Child Predator, Then Fatally Shot Him
A Texas man is charged with murder after allegedly posing as a minor to meet and kill a convicted sex offender, according to authorities.
The Houston Police Department alleges that in May 2023, James Spencer III, 22, shot and killed victim Sean Connery Showers, 37.
Police claim Showers approached a vehicle in the early morning hours of May 29 and then was shot by the suspect, who at the time was unidentified. Upon further investigation, police arrested Spencer, who they claim admitted to the killing.
Showers pleaded guilty to possessing child sex abuse material in 2009, federal authorities said at the time, ABC 13 reports. Showers was sentenced to 30 months in prison and then to two years in 2019 for failing to register as a sex offender, per the outlet.
Read more...
Key hearing nears in NYPD officer's suit against Staten Island superior, NYC over 'courtesy cards'
Officer Mathew Bianchi, formerly assigned to the traffic unit on the borough’s South Shore, filed the complaint in May, alleging he was unfairly punished by his commanding officer, and the city, for refusing to acknowledge every “courtesy card” flashed by motorists during car stops.
The city’s police unions issue the cards to members who then circulate them among family and friends. They’re purportedly used as a way to avoid tickets for traffic infractions like speeding, not wearing a seatbelt or in some cases even blowing a stop light. Not officially recognized by the NYPD, the cards have long been viewed as a perk of the job.
The complaint, which names the City of New York and former 123rd Precinct Commanding Officer Andrey Smirnov as defendants — alleges Bianchi’s superiors retaliated against him for his stance against the “corrupt” practice. Smirnov currently is deputy inspector, and commanding officer of the 60th Precinct in Coney Island, Brooklyn.
In the 123rd Precinct, home to a disproportionately high number of cops and other city workers, the officer said drivers he pulled over for traffic infractions frequently displayed a card. “I see card after card. You’re not allowed to write any of them [up],” he previously told the AP. “We’re not supposed to be showing favoritism when we do car stops, and we shouldn’t be giving them out because the guy mows my lawn.”
Read more...
Interesting local case. To sum it up, an NYPD officer is tired of having to let people go when they pull out their PBA card. He got tired of repeat offenders, and ticketed them anyway. The final straw was when he pulled over the Chief's friend, was shown a PBA card, and ticketed him anyway. They retaliated, and he sued.
If Trump loses in 2024 and manages to stay out of jail and stick around...
Do you think he runs again in 2028? 
I'm half-joking but there's a part of me that thinks he would.
Map Shows 25 States Now Backing Greg Abbott in Border Feud
Source: Newsweek
Amap of U.S. states shows that nearly all of the Republican governors are now backing Texas Governor Greg Abbott in his ongoing dispute with the Biden administration over his attempts to stop illegal migrant crossings into the state from Mexico.
In a 5-4 vote on Monday, the Supreme Court surprised many by siding with the president, ruling that federal agents could—for now—resume cutting razor wire that Texas has been installing along a stretch of the southern border.
The installation of concertina wire along the Rio Grande was among several physical measures Abbott has taken at the border in his efforts to stem the number of migrants entering Texas. In the year to September 2023, nearly 1.4 million migrants entered the state illegally, according to figures compiled by the Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agency, marginally lower than in the previous year.
In the days since the ruling, Abbott has said the fight is "not over" and praised the Texas National Guard for continuing to "hold the line."
Read more: https://www.newsweek.com/map-american-states-backing-texas-governor-greg-abbott-border-feud-1864363
Texas governor ignores Supreme Court ruling, adds more razor wire to border
Source: CBS
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is doubling down on his border initiatives after being dealt a blow from the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week.
Texas and Abbott are making it no secret they’re putting in more razor wire at the southern border just days after the high court gave the go-ahead to the federal government to remove the wire.
In a lengthy statement, Abbott is reiterating arguments he’s cited before, asserting that the federal government has fallen short of its constitutional duties to protect the southern border.
He’s specifically citing the U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 10, Clause 3, which says, in part, “no state shall, without the consent of Congress, keep troops in time of peace unless actually invaded.”
Read more: https://www.cbs7.com/2024/01/26/texas-governor-ignores-supreme-court-ruling-adds-more-razor-wire-border/
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