Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

hookaleft

hookaleft's Journal
hookaleft's Journal
May 27, 2021

Doomsday Mom Accused of Murdering Her Two Kids Found Unfit to Stand Trial

If you have been following this case as I have, this is just shocking news


A psychological evaluation has found Lori Vallow—the doomsday mom accused of murdering her two children—“not competent” to stand trial.

“Assessment determined at this time the defendant is not competent to proceed and recommends restorative treatment,” Seventh Judicial District Judge Steven Boyce wrote in a Thursday order pausing the case.

Prosecutors have already contested the report’s findings, but the judge’s order “remains in effect pending determination of the issue of competency.”

The news comes after Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell, were indicted on several new charges and accused of justifying the murders of three people—including Vallow’s two kids—with their doomsday-centered religious beliefs.

*snip*

https://www.thedailybeast.com/lori-vallow-doomsday-mom-accused-of-murdered-kids-found-unfit-to-stand-trial













https://www.thedailybeast.com/lori-vallow-doomsday-mom-accused-of-murdered-kids-found-unfit-to-stand-trial

May 27, 2021

Report: Trump Telling Allies He Plans To Run For Reelection In 2024 -- With One Caveat

Politico reports that ex-President Donald Trump is reportedly telling his inner circle that he’s planning on taking another shot at the presidency in 2024 as long as he’s in good health.

But some Republicans reportedly aren’t thrilled with the idea of having the twice-impeached former president, who unleashed a bloodthirsty mob of his supporters upon the Capitol less than six months ago, on the ticket again.

But some Republicans reportedly aren’t thrilled with the idea of having the twice-impeached former president, who unleashed a bloodthirsty mob of his supporters upon the Capitol less than six months ago, on the ticket again.

*snip*

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/report-trump-telling-allies-he-plans-to-run-for-reelection-in-2024-with-one-caveat

May 19, 2021

Column: Trump couldn't steal the election in 2020. His allies are laying the groundwork to try again

Donald Trump’s campaign to steal the 2020 election after clearly losing at the ballot box failed for a couple of reasons.

His baseless claims of fraud were thrown out by virtually every court that heard them. Perhaps most important, many GOP officials refused to play along — including Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who declined to “find” the 11,780 more votes Trump needed, and then-Vice President Mike Pence, who turned down a demand from the president that he block Joe Biden’s victory from being certified by Congress.

But the former president and his allies aren’t done.

Pro-Trump forces in dozens of states are now working to change election laws to make it harder for Democrats to win — and easier for Republicans to challenge the results if their candidate loses. If they’re successful, the chaotic aftermath of the 2020 election may only have been a rehearsal for a second round in 2024.

*snip*

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2021-05-19/trump-tried-to-steal-the-presidential-election-of-2020-his-allies-are-laying-the-groundwork-to-try-again

May 18, 2021

Rudy Is Throwing Everything Against Biden's DOJ To See What Sticks

As prosecutors bear down on Rudy Giuliani, his legal team has made a decision: take his antics of the past two years and hold them up as a knot prosecutors will have to untangle.

Giuliani’s attorneys filed a letter on Monday in response to a request by Manhattan federal prosecutors to appoint a special master to oversee evidence gathered after the feds executed search warrants on Giuliani’s office and home last month. Agents also seized the phone of Victoria Toensing, an attorney who worked with Giuliani as he attempted to gather dirt from Ukraine on Joe Biden.

The former mayor is asking the judge to force prosecutors to give up the affidavits and underlying evidence for the warrants, while Toensing wants materials seized from her, overtly and covertly, returned. Both want the right of first review on any material taken under the warrants before they go to any special master or to the prosecutors.

The request itself is completely out of order, former federal prosecutor Harry Sandick told TPM.

“You don’t suppress evidence before theres been an indictment, he’s taking all the things out of sequence,” Sandick said.

*snip*

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/rudy-is-throwing-everything-against-bidens-doj-to-see-what-sticks

May 18, 2021

REPORT: MATT GAETZ SHOULD BE WEEPING, ROCKING BACK AND FORTH IN FETAL POSITION RIGHT NOW

His former wingman had his charges dropped from 33 to 6 in exchange for cooperation.

Now, we‘re no lawyers, but it certainly seems as though one would have to bring something big—like, say, evidence a member of Congress committed a host of crimes—to get prosecutors to whittle one’s charges down from 33 to just 6. According to the Post, the government also agreed to recommend other potential sentencing breaks, wherein a judge could choose to ignore the minimum required sentence, and Greenberg could get less than 12 years. That is, if he is determined to have provided “substantial assistance.”

While the plea agreement did not identify Gaetz by name, it laid out how Greenberg paid women for sex not just with him but unnamed “others.” According to The Washington Post, Gaetz repeatedly boasted of the “access to women that Joel provided him.” And as The New York Times reported back in March, the Department of Justice only began to look into allegations that Gaetz had compensated women for sex and slept with a minor, who he also allegedly transported across state lines, as it was investigating Greenberg, whom Gaetz met in 2017. At that point, the duo proceeded to allegedly commit a bunch of sex crimes together, for which they seemingly left a digital paper trail on Venmo and other online payment platforms.

Earlier this month, the Daily Beast reported that Greenberg had written a “confession” letter, in the hopes of obtaining a pardon from Donald Trump via Roger Stone, in which he admitted facilitating Gaetz’s interactions with the women and paying them on the congressman’s behalf. In April, after news broke that Greenberg would likely cooperate with the feds, reporters asked his lawyer, Fritz Scheller, “Does Matt Gaetz have anything to worry about?” After bursting out laughing, Scheller responded, “I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.” On Monday, Scheller declined to say what Greenberg’s plea would mean for Gaetz, only offering: “To paraphrase The Matrix, the plea agreement has a path, Mr. Greenberg just has to walk the path.”

*snip*

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/05/matt-gaetz-joel-greenberg-plea-deal

May 13, 2021

Bad News For Gaetz: Court Sets Change Of Plea Hearing For Associate Accused Of Sex Trafficking

In a glimpse of the screws tightening around Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a federal judge in Florida on Thursday scheduled a hearing for a longtime Gaetz associate to change his previous not guilty plea in a sex trafficking case.

The move suggests that Greenberg will likely plead guilty in the case, where federal prosecutors have said that he committed a range of crimes that include stalking a political opponent, making fake IDs, and sex trafficking.

After a hearing last month in which both Greenberg’s attorney and prosecutors said that the former Seminole County tax collector was likely to plead guilty, Greenberg attorney Fritz Scheller told reporters that “I’m sure Matt Gaetz is not feeling very comfortable today.”

The court order in Orlando set the change of plea hearing for Monday. The judge added that “any representations or promises made to the Defendant” need to be laid out in a document filed before the Monday hearing.

snip>










https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/bad-news-for-gaetz-court-sets-change-of-plea-hearing-for-associate-accused-of-sex-trafficking

May 12, 2021

4 Women Say Matt Gaetz's Wingman Pressured Them to Have Sex

“I wasn’t really in a position to say I didn’t want to do this. I wasn’t in my right mind. I was in over my head and it was kind of scary.”

Multiple women paid by Rep. Matt Gaetz’s wingman and close associate Joel Greenberg claim they felt pressured to do drugs and have sex with him.

Twelve women agreed to talk with The Daily Beast about their experiences with Greenberg and his friends under the condition of anonymity. All of them said it was their understanding that Greenberg—who until his indictment last June served as the elected tax collector for Seminole County, Florida—was paying them at least in part for sex, going as far back as 2013. Ten women told The Daily Beast they felt pressure at one time or another to drink or take drugs as an entree to sex. And all 12 said Greenberg encouraged them to invite friends, either for himself or men he knew.

snip>

https://www.thedailybeast.com/4-women-say-matt-gaetzs-wingman-pressured-them-to-have-sex

May 12, 2021

This is not the Republican party that I have loathed over the last 30 years....

This is a whole new animal. I thought Dubya and Cheney were the spawn of satan. I never imagined that sh*t would get this crazy!!?? I don't recognize this country anymore. The tea party was irritating AF but these people are animals....

May 11, 2021

Judge Dismisses NRA Bankruptcy Case, Heightening Risk For Dissolution Of Group

Source: NPR

A federal bankruptcy judge dismissed an effort by the National Rifle Association to declare bankruptcy on Tuesday, ruling that the gun rights group had not filed the case in good faith.

The ruling slams the door on the NRA's attempt to use bankruptcy laws to evade New York officials seeking to dissolve the organization. In his decision, the federal judge said that "using this bankruptcy case to address a regulatory enforcement problem" was not a permitted use of bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy trial had paused other legal challenges the NRA had been facing, but this decision returns the group to its confrontation with the New York attorney general, who is seeking to shut it down over alleged "fraud and abuse."

"The @NRA does not get to dictate if and where it will answer for its actions, and our case will continue in New York court," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a tweet after the ruling. "We sued the NRA to put an end to its fraud and abuse, and now we will continue our work to hold the organization accountable."

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2021/05/11/995934682/judge-dismisses-nra-bankruptcy-case-heightening-risk-for-dissolution-of-group

May 11, 2021

Some Mike Lindell fans reportedly stood in line for 7 hours to watch his rally at the Corn Palace --

Some Mike Lindell fans reportedly stood in line for 7 hours to watch his rally at the Corn Palace — but when the event started, the venue was half empty

Hehehe

Pictures at link

https://www.businessinsider.com/mike-lindell-mypillow-ceo-corn-palace-rally-south-dakota-trump-2021-5

Profile Information

Member since: Fri Nov 24, 2017, 09:34 AM
Number of posts: 938
Latest Discussions»hookaleft's Journal