Let’s have some not-war news. Not that it’s necessarily more cheerful.
House Republicans are going to put Steve Scalise forward as potentially the next Speaker. He beat Gym Jordan in a secret ballot vote, 113 to 99. And he’s going to have to win nearly all of those Jordan votes to get the Speaker’s gavel. It’ll happen when it happens, maybe. Not holding my breath.
Yesterday Aaron Blake wrote about A tantalizing detail in a new Trump legal filing. It appears Jack Smith and crew have a theory about Trump’s motivations for hanging on to classified documents. “The government apparently thinks it knows ‘what Trump intended’ with the documents,” Blake wrote. “And it’s signaling that it plans to prove that intent.”
Of course, we don’t know what Jack Smith knows, yet. I tend to go with the “beautiful mind” theory of Trump document boarding, that he kept his hands on all those secret documents because something about them symbolized the status of POTUS for him, and he couldn’t let them go. An alternate theory is that there is information in them that Trump thinks he might use against his opponents.
George Santos has been hit with new charges.
The 23-count superseding indictment alleges Santos took financial information from his donors and ran their credit cards for more cash during last year’s election cycle. Per the federal prosecutors, Santos “repeatedly, without their authorization” charged the credit cards of his contributors before siphoning the money off to himself, his own campaign, and other election operations.
Santos was previously indicted in May on fraud and money laundering charges related to his alleged efforts to receive unemployment benefits while he was employed. At the time, prosecutors accused Santos of having “pocketed campaign contributions and used that money to pay down personal debts and buy designer clothing.” There are 10 additional counts in the new superseding indictment, including aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, false statements, and falsifying records.
Santos denies he is guilty of anything and says he will refuse to take a plea deal. Of course, we don’t know that he’s been offered a plea deal. House Republicans from New York are either about about to introduce a resolution to expel Santos from Congress, or maybe they have done that already.
The rationality-challenged Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced on Monday that he would run for President as an independent. Instantanteously, all the Republicans who had been encouraging him to run changed their minds. The Republican National Committee dismissed Kennedy as “just another radical, far-left Democrat.” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel called him “a typical elitist liberal.”
Michael Scherer writes at WaPo,
The attacks came as Democrats remained largely silent on Kennedy’s shift, reflecting a relative optimism among the party’s top strategists that Kennedy poses little threat to Biden as an independent candidate. Kennedy’s polling in the Democratic nomination fight had fallen in recent months, and current national polling shows higher approval ratings for Kennedy among Republican voters than Democratic voters.
In other words, it dawned on them that Kennedy could take more votes from the Republican nominee than from President Biden. Whoops!
" Jack Smith and crew have a theory about Trump’s motivations for hanging on to classified documents"
I thought at the time when they obtained a warrant to search his trash palace that they better have something other than just illegal possession of these documents. That is illegal for sure and the GQP would be calling for hanging if it was Obama but is it really enough to put the country through charging a former POTUS with felonies? I'm not sure, but if they can prove that he intended to use the documents for something else illegal (espionage, bribery) than hey maybe they might even convince a magat or two? I saw Rep. Ken Buck (R) on tee-vee he voted present on Scalise, he listed his demands for Scalise to get his vote, slash the budget, fund the war in Ukraine and one that floored me he wants Scalice to proclaim publicly that the 2020 election was NOT stolen! So I reckon Scalice won't be getting Ken Buck's vote anytime soon!
Yes.
Yeah, it's not just that Trump had classified docs, it's that he intentionally obstructed the government's attempts to (1) account for them and (2) get them back.
The system(s?) for classifying docs has fallen into some kind of bureaucratic trap, where more & more things get classified higher & higher, so there are literally Billions of docs which are classified these days. Every ex-president winds up with some things they shouldn't have; everybody except Trump has cooperated in getting it straightened out.
I agree I just thought at the time the warrant was served I hoped that DOJ had more than just possession, the obstruction was not obvious at the time? I agree it's against the law I just hoped there was more than just possession, hopefully this latest tidbit proves he had criminal intent beyond possessing these documents for ego, sport? We all know Stump is an asshole but the fact his he is a former POTUS and to think he would be treated like Joe Blow is unrealistic. If DOJ can prove he had ill intent then the inevitable wing-nut "Biden did it too" argument goes out the window!
Based on news reports Trump has been using classified material to show off with. News reports have it he shared classified nuclear sub technology with one of his guests, who then went on to tell several others from foreign countries about them. We have no idea of what he may have shared with others who may have then shared this information with bad actors. For example, who knows what secrets we may have had about Israeli intelligence gathering, sources and methods, etc that might have been stashed in boxes in a guest bathroom at Mar a Lago that may have found its way to Hamas or Iran.
Trump's continued possession of these documents is an ongoing security threat. Unauthorized release of classified information is a serious crime (remember Reality Winner?) that results in jail time.
Even if he isn't reelected, Trump is already costing this country dearly, in one way or another. But as long as he has these documents, there's a risk of even worse disaster.
This Democrat thanks you, Robert F Kennedy! All your stupid anti-vax nonsense will be put to good use!
I'm glad Jordan came up short, at least in this round.
That's truly brazen of Santos (or his people). It's the thing everyone fears when they make a legitimate credit card purchase. It's hard believe they thought they could get away with it. The resolution to expel Santos requires 2/3 of the House to vote him out, it'll be interesting if enough Republicans will step up to the bar.
The stupidity of the GOP elements initially promoting RFKjr is that they assumed Democrats have the same family-name-hero-worship idolatry that they have regarding the tRump brand. Similar to thinking that Kanye West's candidacy would draw all the black votes away from Biden.
So, who's the most innocent, falsely accused man in history?
tRUMP, or Santos?
NEITHER!
It was a trick question.
They're both guilty, guilty, GUILTY!!!
But in their own feeble, weaselly, sociopathic "minds," they are the most aggrieved,? innocent, falsely accused people of all time.
Man, are RepubliKKKLAN voters gullible! As well as stupid, ignorant, and bigoted!
Dog help us all!
OY!!!
There's a retired AF officer doing three years (starting this year) for hoarding classified documents at his home. There's no indication he did or intended to sell (or even show) the documents. Others have received stiff penalties for mishandling national secrets.
NOBODY who gets a clearance does so without warnings about how important it is to follow procedures to the letter every time. Thus, when Biden and Pence discovered their errors, they reported what they had IMMEDIATELY! Two reasons: first, the authorities can evaluate if the potential breach did damage. Second, it's your best chance of avoiding consequences.
Trump appears to have taken what he did on purpose. It's certain that Trump knew what he had later because he waved papers around to discredit Miley. Other classified documents were used as scrap paper for To Do lists. It's also certain Trump was told to return everything and Trump devised sophisticated schemes to keep much of it and conceal the deceit.
We're no longer in the area of three-year penalties for hoarding. Lying to National Archives after returning a portion of the docs, then lying to your lawyer after he conducted a "search" for stuff Trump moved prior to the search for the purpose of concealment of the crime is not an accident DOJ can overlook. NOT charging Trump makes a mockery of the procedures that many tens of thousands of patriots have observed faithfully for many years, indeed over many generations of national service.
I'm gonna digress. I'm a veteran. I never had a security clearance but I bumped into stuff in conversations, sometimes with people who worked with classified materials routinely. As soon as I was told, "That's not something I can answer.", I veered away from that. I respected the boundary of classification as much as the sailor who I was talking to did.
Trump needs to go to jail because he shows no respect whatsoever for national secrets. The possession of information that most people never see inflates Trump's ego. Also, possessing documents that can destroy other people may have motivated Trump. But Trump really needs to be locked up until he's dead because no one knows how much Trump may have retained in his head. Only when Trump is in lockup can the US be confident Trump can't divulge classified stuff. (A lobotomy might work.)
On the House debacle… Gym Jordan has thrown his support behind Scalise, which surprised me. I'm not sure what the Freedom Caucus has planned. Keep in mind, Scalise voted to pass the CR that kept the government open. Like McCarthy, Scalise seems to be a pragmatist – aware that attempted extortion through shutdowns only hurts the Republicans.
The CR expires in a little over a month. If there's no Speaker, the lights go out. But the Freedom Caucus isn't united behind that goal – Matt Gaetz voted for Scalise. If Scalise is elected, it looks like the rule that allowed Gaetz to stab McCarthy will go.(Republicans in the House are not pleased with Gaetz & Company.) Offhand, there's only a dozen or less members of the House who liked the way that played out. So if Scalise is elected, that removes the weapons that The Freedom Caucus needs to inflict chaos as political leverage thru vacating the Speaker's chair.
BTW, it looks like Gaetz motive in removing McCarthy was revenge over an ethics probe McCarthy would not kill. Gaetz voted for Scalise. Trump seems to have very little influence in the contest for Speaker. The bomb-throwers in the House (I think) lose all leverage in the House once Scalise is in.
I'm not saying Scalise is a gem – he's not. He's not going to shut down government as a tactic. He says he will compromise with the Senate on backing Ukraine. (I think I read that.) Which won't make the FC happy.
Another positive development is that Trump endorsed Gym Jordan. Maybe I'm looking to hard for some indication that Trump's influence is waning, but it's still something. Inch by inch Trump is heading to destruction.
Getting endorsed by Stump is like stepping in dog poop!
I remember watching ten men struggling to carry a golden casket that was destined for a New Jersey burial. Were the ashes of ex-wife that heavy or were they just acting like it was real gold. Of course we were assured that it was painted.
Did anyone in the prosecutor’s office wonder about that ridiculous display? Maybe it’s just another presidential mystery like who is buried in Grant’s tomb. I hope Jack Smith has found everything he needs.
The GQP is convinced with money. Magats are convinced with tribal memes. The minority of free-thinking conservatives (RINOs to the others) are the only ones convinced with logic, but even then, that logic must pass through their "is this beneficial for me?" filter.
Methinks they need to do a falling down, like an alcoholic or gambler. I'm still working on a 12-step program that'd help before all of that though.
I like the idea of convincing veterans that loose lips should not be forgiven just because you're rich, cult-zombified, or believe in some kind of natural law TINA status-quo.
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez facing additional charges following sweeping indictment (msn.com)
Bob, Bob, Bob, what are we going to do with you?
Someone should ask Chuck Schumer that question. Bob has been charged with almost as many felonies as Stump. It’s been a few weeks now, has Chuck publicly called for him to go? Not yet.
"Follow the money": Experts suspect Weisselberg's "muted" testimony linked to $2M severance deal (msn.com)
Big Al Weisselberg must have had such a trauma from his stint on Rikers that it effected his memory. Either that or he toughened up like a hardcore con and ain't gonna spill no beans to the man. "You can cut out my tongue and I still ain't talkin".
I'm wondering if Judge Engoron split up the overall financial penalties and assign certian amounts to the individual defendants. Because if he can, I'm hoping he awards Weisselberg a penalty that completely wipe him out. Maybe about 5 million buck so that Weisselberg has to rely on his wife's Social Security that she earned from her no show job. I hope he spends his remaining days living out of a soup kitchen.
Scalise threw in the towel. At least eight and perhaps as many as twenty Republicans refused to accept the nominee who won the majority. (Sound familiar?) After two days of meeting with the opponents of his Speakership, Scalise concluded there is no way forward.
Jordan will expect the House must accept him or no one. (I missed it before but a few days ago, Liz Cheney declared Jim Jordan was in the J6 insurrection up to his neck and must not become Speaker.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/08/opinions/jim-jordan-liz-cheney-house-speaker-race-obeidallah/?dicbo=v2-pzDuuTP&iid=ob_lockedrail_topeditorial
Where does that leave the nation? I see three options, First, the House GOP unifies behind what looks like their only option. Second, enough Republicans refuse Jordan to put the Speaker's chair in limbo. Third, the Democrats nominate Liz Cheney as Speaker in the hope they can peel off four Republicans who do not want the US House to become an extension of Mir-a-Lago.
Frankly, I view all three options as unlikely, bordering on impossible, and fantastic. But I don't see a fourth option.
I get the reference to the beautiful mind theory, but in Trump's case I think the demented, gnarled up, twisted, sick and utterly polluted mind would be a more accurate descriptor of identifying Trump's mental condition. There was never any beauty in Trump's mind to begin with.