Miscellaneous Political Stuff - Part 18…

She also says she found E. Jean Carroll's comments about "what to buy" after winning to be distasteful and now makes it harder for victims to come forward. No, your kind of shit is what makes it hard, Nancy.

Does Lara Trump know which party she is working for? The irony, denial and lack of awareness is astonishing.

I like Brian Tyler Cohen's response - Wouldn’t it just be easier to text your father-in-law?

I'm losing hope that Trump will be held accountable, but this is encouraging




Former Trump WH lawyer Ty Cobb on Trump's legal trouble:

“The facts are terrible. His conduct is reprehensible, subject 91 felony accounts, four separate indictments, and multiple civil cases. He has lost almost half a $1 billion. So it is not like this is a smooth ship…

He does have the benefit of time, at least with the federal cases, because he will be able to dismiss those if they are still on appeal or still active once the election is over if he wins. But only if he wins. If he loses, he's going to jail."

Regarding the Republican failure to stand up and do the right thing



THREAD: I've long wondered why republicans don't take the opportunity to be heroes. What I mean is that when Trump incited an insurrection, Mitch McConnell could have pushed to convict him in the Senate and barred him from running for office again

Or when Pence was the target of an attempted assassination, he could have come forward and cooperated with Jack Smith instead of suing to block his subpoena.

Katie Britt had a short window to stand up and say she was manipulated by the men in her party, and own the lies she told about a sex trafficked girl to further their mission to keep her in the kitchen. But she didn't. She doubled down and obfuscated

Why? I think back to a discussion I had with @maryltrump. I asked her why donald refused to stand up and take the reins during the COVID crisis and be a hero, and I'll never forget what she told me.

She said donald can never be a hero because to be a hero, you have to admit there's a problem, and he's incapable of that. His ego won't let him admit there's a problem.

I think about that whenever I see these MAGA folks failing to be heroes.

New RNC chair may be opening a can of worms she was not expecting...
And she thinks they won't revolt?


Newly-elected Republican Party officials loyal to former President Donald Trump are planning a mass purge of staffers at the Republican National Committee, with as many as 60 officials on the chopping block, a new report shows.. Not big numbers but they have families and friends.

Politico reporter Sam Stein dubbed it a "bloodbath at the RNC."

Some of axed staffers may ultimately be rehired to other positions — but leadership is making clear that this is about ensuring fealty to the former president, according to Politico's Alex Isenstadt.

"Those being asked to resign include five members of the senior staff, though the names were not made public," wrote Isenstadt. "Additionally, some vendor contracts are expected to be cut."

Sen Cairncross, the new chief operating officer of the RNC, stated in a letter to party staff that they were “in the process of evaluating the organization and staff to ensure the building is aligned” with its vision, and that “During this process, certain staff are being asked to resign and reapply for a position on the team.”

This news arrives amid reports that the appointment of former president's daughter-in-law Lara Trump has led to widespread resignations of lower-level members.

It also comes as the RNC appears to have a majority of members supporting the use of funds to pay Trump's legal expenses, another issue that has led to widespread disagreement within the party.

"Total stable genius move to do this during a presidential election cycle," said conservative attorney George Conway in a post to X in response to the news. "No doubt that Lara will quickly replace the fired people with only the best people, as MAGA only attracts the best, and that fired staffers won’t be disgruntled and leak damaging stories to the press."

www.rawstory.com/trump-rnc-2667488456/

Was it election interference when Trump withheld briefings from President elect Biden in November 2020?

Partial end to Don't say gay in Florida

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/03/11/florida-agreement-lgbtq-topics/

Settlement in Florida ‘don’t say gay’ lawsuit says it’s okay to say gay
Students will be able to speak freely about LGBTQ+ issues in classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction

A lawsuit settlement over Florida’s “don’t say gay” statute announced Monday affirms that teachers and students can discuss LGBTQ+ issues and have access to related library books, largely canceling many of the impacts of the signature legislation from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The settlement was immediately praised by rights groups who said it marked a major victory for LGBTQ+ students, teachers and families who were effectively barred from speaking about their own personal lives or loved ones in same-sex relationships.

Under the terms of the settlement, the law itself remains in place but the state must clarify that it “restricts only classroom instruction on particular subjects — ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity,” but does not restrict “the mere discussion of them.” The law also cannot be applied to library books, a number of which had been banned.

The state Board of Education is now required to send instructions detailing the settlement requirements to all of Florida’s 67 school districts. Parents and LGBTQ+ groups sued over the Parental Rights in Education Law in April 2022.

The DeSantis administration described the settlement as “a major win,” because prohibiting instruction on sexual ideology in public school classrooms remains in place. But critics have long asserted that little on the subject was actually taught in school and that the most consequential effects of the law were how much fear it caused over any mention of LGBTQ+ people in classrooms.

“For years, the DeSantis administration refused to clarify their vague and punitive law, which led to the removal of library books that included LGBTQ people, censorship of classroom discussions about our existence, and an exodus of teachers from the profession, both gay and straight,” said former state representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, who voted against the law when he was in the state House. “This doesn’t undo the tremendous harm already caused by this hateful law, but it’s a big step towards repairing the damage.”

This may be a major issue. Robert Hur, FORMER special counsel with DOJ resigned as of today, Monday Mar 11th, prior to his testimony Tuesday Mar 12th before the House Judiciary Committee chaired by Gym Jordan... He will testify as a private citizen under no oversight by DOJ and seemingly say whatever?!?!?


Robert Hur, at the start of his special counsel probe into Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, was lauded as an experienced and fair federal prosecutor who was well-versed in handling high-profile and complex investigations.

Then, after a year of near-total public silence, he released a damning report detailing the president’s alleged previous mishandling of classified material. Hur, a former US attorney appointed by then-President Donald Trump, was met with resounding backlash from Democrats, including from Biden himself.

As Hur steps into the halls of Congress to testify Tuesday, his background – and how critics and allies of the president believe that may have seeped into his investigation – is once again going to be thrust into the spotlight.

And after finishing up his work last week, Hur is no longer with the Justice Department, according to a department spokesperson – meaning he will be testifying about his investigation as a private citizen.

www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/politics/robert-hur-special-counsel/index.html
***

Long and uncomfortable to read...

Robert Hur, the former Trump-appointed US Attorney who declined to prosecute President Joe Biden after classified materials were found in his Delaware home and a former office in Washington, DC, will appear before the House Judiciary Committee as a private citizen who has surrounded himself with Republican partisans and notorious figures linked to former president Donald Trump as he prepares for his Tuesday appearance before the House Judiciary Committee.

According to multiple sources familiar with Mr Hur’s plans, the special counsel, who is appearing before the Judiciary Committee at the request of the Republican majority led by Ohio Representative Jim Jordan, has arranged his departure from the Department of Justice to be official as of Monday 11 March, one day before he is scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill.

Instead of appearing as a DOJ employee who is bound by the ethical guidelines which govern the behaviour of federal prosecutors, he will appear as a private citizen with no constraints on his testimony.

A Judiciary Committee source said Mr Hur’s departure from government service the day before he testifies is a major red flag for Democrats on the panel.

“That makes it even more problematic from our perspective ... if he was still a federal employee, DOJ would have to approve his testimony and they’d be involved in his appearance tomorrow,” they said.

In addition to the timing of his departure raising alarms among the Judiciary Committee minority, sources have also been alarmed by Mr Hur’s choice of associates during the lead-up to his appearance.

In preparing for the hearing, Mr Hur has turned to William Burck, a veteran Washington lawyer with deep ties to the Republican political establishment to serve as his counsel during his testimony before the committee.
***

During the DOJ probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election led by former FBI director Robert Mueller, Mr Burck represented three Trump White House officials, Mr Trump’s first White House counsel, Don McGahn, his first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and his 2016 campaign chairman and White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon. And he has served as a board member of the Fox Corporation, operator of the right-wing, Republican-aligned Fox News Channel, since 2021.

Upon Mr Bush’s departure from the White House he designated Mr Burck as one of his official representatives to the National Archives and Records Administration. He has retained that position to this day, and he gained a measure of notoriety in the role in mid to late 2018, when he was put in charge of reviewing more than 100,000 pages of Bush-era records related to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s work in the Bush White House as a deputy White House counsel.

Mr Burck, as Mr Bush’s representative, advised the Trump White House to invoke executive privilege to prevent Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee from reviewing the documents during Mr Kavanaugh’s confirmation process after Mr Trump nominated him to serve on the Supreme Court.

At the time, he said in a letter explaining the decision that the records which were withheld from the Senate “reflect deliberations and candid advice concerning the selection and nomination of judicial candidates, the confidentiality of which is critical to any president’s ability to carry out this core constitutional executive function”.

Mr Hur and Mr Burck do not appear to have ever worked together directly, but on Mr Burck’s LinkedIn page, Mr Hur is listed as having endorsed his litigation skills.

A Judiciary Committee source noted that both men have long histories as Republican partisans, citing Mr Hur’s work as Principle Associate Deputy Attorney General at a time when then-Attorney General William Barr was working to minimise political damage to Mr Trump from the report produced by the Mueller investigation and Mr Burck’s efforts to block Senate Democrats from viewing the Bush-era documents related to now-Justice Kavanaugh.

The source told The Independent that Mr Hur’s legal team has not been particularly communicative with the Democratic side of the panel during the run-up to the former special counsel’s testimony. Combined with Mr Hur’s decision to seek advice preparing him for testimony from former Trump-era DOJ spokesperson Sarah Isgur, the source said Mr Hur’s appearance has Democrats quite alarmed.

Ms Isgur, who headed the department’s Office of Public Affairs under then-attorney general Jeff Sessions and advised then-deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein during the Mueller probe, left the department during the final years of the Trump administration and has since been attempting to reinvent herself as a journalist.

She currently serves as a senior editor for The Dispatch and is a paid contributor to ABC News, but her behind-the-scenes work prepping Mr Hur was first reported by Axios. A source familiar with Mr Hur’s plans also confirmed Ms Isgur’s involvement to The Independent.

Hannah Muldavin, a spokesperson for the Congressional Integrity Project, told The Independent in a statement that Mr Hur’s choice of associates marks him as a player on Mr Trump’s team instead of the nonpartisan prosecutor he is supposed to be.

“Despite recommending no criminal charges against Joe Biden, Robert Hur decided to make unnecessary, partisan, political attacks against the President in his report. The partisan political operatives Hur has enlisted to help him prepare for his testimony only underscores how this Trump-appointed, lifelong Republican is yet another player in the MAGA effort to aide Donald Trump and hurt Joe Biden in the 2024 election,” she said.

Another source told The Independent that committee members have taken note of Mr Hur’s team and are expecting him to attempt to inflict as much political harm on Mr Biden as he possibly can.

“Where people like Isgur and Bill Burck come in is to help him weaponise the report he wrote in order to damage the president,” they said.

“Someone like Bob Muller, like probably didn't do a ton of prep, and he certainly didn't do prep with, you know, partisan operatives”.

The person added that committee members expect Mr Hur to “double down” on his descriptions of Mr Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” even though former prosecutors and legal ethics experts have said his comments about Mr Biden violated Justice Department guidelines on disparaging persons who were not to be charged with crimes.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/robert-hur-trump-special-counsel-b2510944.html

y

😂 what could go wrong with this. Seriously what the heck.