“Today's sentencing of human rights lawyer Steven Donziger should be front-page news ringing alarm bells anywhere people are concerned about democracy, abuses of corporate power, and the rule of law. The real crime here is the death and disease resulting from Chevron's poisoning of the drinking water of thousands of Indigenous...
Sentencing
So much still unresolved from the Trump era installed in 2016, and continued through 2020, a Russian intelligence operation. Hard to tell whether it ranks with Robert Hanssen, Aldrich Ames, or even Operation Pandora, the plan to foment a US race war in the 1960s, although the Trump win could...
Actually, had Spielberg reduced the running time, the film 1941 might have been a classic. The classic film history teaching exercise would be to edit it down to 2 hours. Craig Lindsey’s article argues for the Pogo conclusion that the enemy is us when we allow fear to take over. 2020 did that...
Received this e-mail today from Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón (D. CA), in support of Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager’s (D. CA) State Senate campaign in the upcoming special election to fill outgoing LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell’s (D. CA) seat on March 2nd: Assemblywoman Sydney Kamlager (D. CA) As...
Everyone deserves a legal defense, even if in this case, all that will be advanced is a Big Lie about election fraud, and the supermajority “jury” result will be denied by 45 GOP senators. David Schoen represented Roger Stone for sentencing and appeal… David Schoen has now advised a notorious...
Here’s the latest news out of Virginia: Former governor Terry McAuliffe has released his plan for reforming the state’s criminal justice system, focusing on parole, marijuana legalization and the restoration of voting rights. The Plan of Action for a Fairer Commonwealth prioritizes rehabilitation and second chances, fighting to achieve justice in...
Suddenly, we’re all talking about the felony murder doctrine. Broadly, that’s a legal principle stating that if someone is involved in the commission of a felony, and the circumstances of that crime result in a death, then they are guilty of the offense of murder even if they weren’t directly...
Another Trump presser today, there were more of the same lies especially about the availability of COVID vaccines. Trump furthermore went full disinformation about mask use. CNN’s Dana Bash referred to Trump’s account as “propaganda”. http://www.pscp.tv/… x In opening statement, Pres Trump calls on @joebiden to “stop promoting his anti-vaccine theories.”...
Bill Barr has refused to appear before the House Judiciary committee but other witnesses have not. This could be a bigger deal, if only to remind how Barr’s entire career as a Republican “fixer” might be laid bare. Not exactly impeachment but the basis for post-Trump prosecution might be created....
John Gleeson, the retired judge whom Emmet Sullivan, judge in Michael Flynn’s case, tasked with writing a review and recommendation of Barr’s demand (he calls it a request) to dismiss the Flynn case, has completed his report. Michael Flynn committed perjury but should not face contempt hearing, court-appointed counsel finds...
Hot, polluted water is identified in a WaPo op-ed by John Gleeson, David O’Neil and Marshall Miller, on the withdrawal of Michael Flynn charges. What will knowing the content of the 2016 Sergey Kislyak — Michael Flynn phone call tell us. Flynn wants lobster and Barr will get it for him, except now...
Remember that DoJ dropping charges against Flynn is being done in the context of a diversion and a pandemic. There are Mueller investigation files being unsealed. With imminent release of #RussiaTranscripts Fox News is already spinning it as raising doubts about @RepAdamSchiff saying there was evidence of collusion. So, here's...
Remember that DoJ dropping charges against Flynn is being done in the context of a diversion and a pandemic. There are Mueller investigation files being unsealed. x With imminent release of #RussiaTranscripts Fox News is already spinning it as raising doubts about @RepAdamSchiff saying there was evidence of collusion. So,...
Fuck yeah: The office of former president Barack Obama privately blasted a congressional investigation into former vice president Joe Biden and his son, as well as alleged Ukrainian election interference, calling it an effort “to give credence to a Russian disinformation campaign,” according to a letter obtained by BuzzFeed News....
Trump’s ex-lawyer has not been shiftless while hiding his light under a gray-bar bushel. Donald Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, has spent his time behind bars writing a potentially explosive tell-all book about life with the president, reports say. Three people familiar with the project told The Daily Beast that Cohen – who is...
The Atlantic article by Sarada Peri assumes an event will occur that is endemic. Trump has destabilized facts and their media frames. If he’s going to cheat what was he doing before this moment, starting with when he lied about the wealth inherited from his father. Democratic primary voters care deeply...
Excellent article in The Atlantic on the current regime. Collars of color go to jail as “Americans aren't practicing democracy anymore” The underlying principle here, from Stone to Iran-Contra, is authoritarian but consistent: Members of the ruling clique are entitled to criticize law enforcement without sanction, and entitled to leniency when they...
Justice gets done, despite the tweet-bleating of Trump and the intervention of Barr. The Trumpocracy’s court jester is sentenced to 40 months in prison (three years, four months, $20,000 fine, two years probation, plus community service). There will be an appeal, as well as speculation about a Trump pardon/commutation, as the...
Lawlessness continues as Trump commutes a sentence and pardons others prior to the Thursday sentencing of Roger Stone. Trump’s celebrity pardoning of Bernard Kerik and Eddie de Bartolo Jr. is an attempt to media-frame the Stone pardon as well as Trump’s possible self-pardon. It also draws attention from demands for AG Barr’s...
It was predictable that the federal judiciary would not be happy with Hair Gropingfury ordering the DOJ around, not to mention calling out judges for following the law. Now it appears they might be planning to do something about it. Federal judges' association calls emergency meeting after DOJ intervenes in...
Let’s see, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted to block witnesses in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial and also voted to acquit our ocher overlord. And now Trump is on a rampage, interfering in the sentencing of his cronies, firing witnesses, and generally behaving as if he’s above the law. What say...
Lady Justice has functioned very well—for years, being blind, but now Donald Trump, William Barr, and Republican officialdom are rendering her mute. Last night, and for as long as Attorney General Barr does not collapse under the weight of a tweet, he publicly admitted the President is pulling away the...
It’s shark-jumping time in the White House. Remember that even the revenge-tour could be misdirection for other malign activity. Just to recap: 2/5: Trump is "acquitted" 2/6: Trump uses National Prayer Breakfast to promise vengeance 2/7: Trump starts firing witnesses 2/11: Career officials resign in protest as Trump administration intervenes...
The House Judiciary Committee has just released a letter it sent to AG Barr confirming his agreement to testify before them on March 31st. The letter lists several specific topics the committee wants to ask him about: The removal USDA Jessie Liu Rudy Giuliani’s “process” by which he can “feed...
It may be irony, schadenfreude or coincidence but we are crossing paths at the intersection of politics and Marvel or DC Comics. We have a blustering Joker as Head of State, Mr. Freeze as his second, and an assortment of Two-faces, Riddlers and a top-hatted Penguin seeking to avoid his...
MSNBC just reported with the Breaking News that Barr has taken over the sentencing of Roger Stone and it appears he is trying to make the Mueller Report disappear. Well Susan, he sure learned his lesson ( Trump) didn’t he? He learned there is absolutely no rule of law even...
x Yes! Walt please go to #KremlinAnnex these people have been out there in rain, sleet, snow and gloom of night working to save our democracyð½ — ZenTaoPrincess (@ZenTaoPrincess) February 11, 2020 x Have you read about our team yet? âÂÂï¸Âðºð¸ Kremlin Annex: Five women have been protesting outside the...
Shocked, Shocked… will sentence leniency compel Trump to do more criming. x #RogerStone Senior DOJ official tells @CBSNews Department was shocked to see sentencing recommendation Stone case. This is not what was briefed to Dept. The Dept. believes recommendation is extreme, excessive, grossly disproportionate to offenses…#DEVELOPING— Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) February 11,...
Mike Flynn gets the sentencing memorandum in the aftermath of his “assistance” to the Mueller investigation. The tune-changing, much like Paul Manafort’s results in a shift in the sentencing recommendation. THREAD: Why are federal prosecutors recommending 0 to 6 months in prison for Michael Flynn? — Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) January...
Convicted child sex abuser Jerry Sandusky recently sought a lighter prison sentence for his 45-count conviction in 2012. The former Penn State assistant football coach still vehemently declares his innocence to the increasingly-limited number of people who will listen, but while a new trial was denied by a state court, this challenge was...
The GOP should be careful about wishing for a quick up and down vote on impeachment. The Ukraine chapter is essentially part III of the Mueller report, leaving the GOP with a Pyrrhic victory if they “acquit” Trump in a Senate trial. The Democrats, by contrast are looking to optimize...
A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS! Oh, my God! Pack up the babies, grab the old ladies! Hide the sheep, and break out the likker, the end is nigh! You gotta admit, those three words sound like nothing other than Orson Welles frantically describing the end of civilization in his iconic “War of the...
After Paul Manafort’s sentencing yesterday Manaforts lawyer, Kevin Downing, addressed the waiting TV cameras outside the courthouse, pirouetting for an intended audience of one saying Judge Jackson had found “no evidence of collusion” which was not strictly true or even close to the truth. The assembled crowd responded indignantly with...
When Paul Manafort appeared before Judge T.S. Ellis last week, he was facing up to 24 years in prison, so the 47 months he actually got seemed like a slap on the wrist. Turns out it was. A recent analysis by USA Today showed that Manafort appeared to get kid-glove...
OK, I’ll deal with this right at the top, because I know how y’all absolutely dote on every golden drop that falls from my fingers to the keyboard. Judge Ellis is a wealthy, privileged, arrogant, half senile dick. Which gives him something in common with Paul Manafort. From pre-trial motions...
Well, this is awkward: Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Monday singled out Sen. Mitch McConnell as the one person who can make a vote on the criminal justice reform bill happen and called for public pressure on the majority leader. Paul, speaking at the Louisville Urban League, said McConnell,...
Soon to be former Congressman Mark Sanford of SC-1st was on that bothsiderist TV show Kasie DC on MSNBC, and he was asked about Trump and the SDNY’s sentencing memo on Cohen. If you want to see a profile in political courage, this was not it. A shocker I know....
Received this e-mail today from U.S. Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D. IL): Sen. Dick Durbin (D. IL) The Senate has a chance in the lame duck session to push through much-needed criminal justice reform. But we’ll need your help to do it. The First Step Act has deep...
Justin Miller, National Editor of The Daily Beast, has an interesting theory about Mueller’s Joint Status Report, which contains a tantalizing statement… (Bolds mine) “The government will file a detailed sentencing submission to the Probation Department and the Court in advance of sentencing that sets forth the nature of the defendant’s...
This defense didn’t work so well at Nuremberg… The Washington Post “Attorneys representing a Kansas man convicted of a 2016 plot to massacre Somali Muslim refugees by bombing a mosque and apartment complex in Garden City, Kan., have asked a federal judge to consider a more lenient sentence, arguing that...
When it comes to Michael Cohen's guilty plea in federal court the day before yesterday, let's ignore Donald Trump for just a moment. There will be plenty of time to talk about The Tangerine Tantrum Machine, but I got my greatest case of the warm-and-fuzzies from a different source. And...
The Nation has a great piece exposing GOP nominee for Governor, Bill Schuette’s (R. MI) awful, bigoted record as Attorney General of Michigan and how he is the farthest thing from being a champion of civil rights: In 2012, two Michigan residents, April DeBoer and Jayne Rowse, filed suit over the...
Rick Wilson felt bad about poor Paulie Numbnuts languishing in stir with only dry legal briefs to read, so he did the least he could do, send him a signed copy of his book Everything Trump Touches Dies to peruse as he awaits conviction and sentencing… x This just went...
As Sherlock Holmes was wont to say, “The game is afoot Watson!” While the last week or sao may have been a helter skelter, we've worked our way through the serpentine line, and now we get to take a ride on the 45 day roller coaster. Why 45 days? Because,...
I’m sure everyone will be very surprised to know that Trump’s shortlist of SCOTUS candidates is not exactly everything we’d like to see in a replacement for Kennedy. Or anything we’d like to see in a replacement for Kennedy. But there are some really scary options on that list. Like the guy in that...