#comey

(Source)

The push comes days after:

Trump told the Attorney General to prosecute his enemies "NOW"

The Trump-appointed US Attorney decided there was no case against Comey

Then FBI Director Comey conspired with Democrats to protect Hillary Clinton and violate Federal law.

Investigate. Indict. Prosecute. Incarcerate.

Still the Right Answer

The news cycle on Wednesday was packed. There were three dominant threads:

First, Trump is losing control in the Senate, as demonstrated by the delay in confirming Todd Blanche as Attorney General, the passage of a resolution opposing a pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s continued refusal to advance the SAVE America Act.

Second, Trump’s campaign of vengeance and retribution was in high gear and on full display but was met with forceful resistance by James Comey and Anthony Fauci. In addition, Trump’s selective withholding of FEMA funds from states that did not vote for him in 2024 was laid bare. Trump is apparently unclear on the concept that Republicans live in states that did not vote for him and often elect GOP representatives to the House and Senate.

Finally, Trump’s ill-begotten war against Iran continues to devolve into a regional disaster that truly threatens global peace and stability

As I have said previously, we should not gloat over Trump’s failures. Ultimately, the American people pay the price for his incompetence. Still, a weak and ineffectual Trump helps Democrats heading into the midterms. While the display of Trump’s incompetence and corruption is difficult to watch, it is ultimately encouraging for the long-term prospects of democracy.

Trump’s troubles in the Senate continue to mount.

Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has said that he will not vote to recommend Todd Blanche as Attorney General unless Blanche provides written assurances that the sweetheart IRS immunity deal granted to Trump and the $1.8 billion slush for insurrectionists have been formally rescinded. Cornyn sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Blanche cannot afford to lose a single Republican vote.

Cornyn gave Blanche a deadline of 4:00 pm ET on Wednesday to provide the written assurances that the IRS immunity and the insurrectionists’ fund had been rescinded. Blanche refused to do so. Senate Majority Leader John Thune then canceled the scheduled Thursday confirmation vote on Blanche. See WSJ, Two GOP Senators Force Delay on Trump’s Attorney General Pick | Committee holdouts want ‘anti-weaponization fund’ formally killed and changes to no-audits language before they will back Todd Blanche. (Gift link.)

As of Wednesday evening, Blanche’s nomination is uncertain. But we should never count on Republicans to do the right thing. There is still time for Cornyn to capitulate, a skill he has perfected under Trump.

If the Senate Judiciary Committee does not issue a favorable report on Blanche, Majority Leader Thune still has a theoretical path to confirmation by scheduling a vote to discharge the Committee from further consideration of the nomination. But the vote to discharge the committee is subject to the 60-vote filibuster (cloture to end debate)—a hurdle Blanche will not clear. On the discharge procedure, see EveryCRSReport, Discharging a Senate Committee from Consideration of a Nomination.

It is also theoretically possible that Thune could carve out an exception to the filibuster for motions to discharge committees—a precedent that would undermine the committee system in the Senate and disadvantage Republicans when Democrats regain control. It is uncertain whether Thune would take a sledgehammer to the committee system, especially given that Republicans in tight races might vote against Blanche due to his handling of the Epstein files, his role in the insurrection fund, and the IRS immunity agreement.

In a potentially ominous sign for Blanche, the full Senate approved a request for unanimous consent opposing the pardoning of Ghislaine Maxwell or the commutation of her sentence. See The Guardian, Senate unanimously passes resolution opposing pardon for Ghislaine Maxwell | Ghislaine Maxwell. (Maxwell “should not be granted a Presidential pardon or any form of clemency for her crimes with Jeffrey Epstein relating to the sexual exploitation and abuse of minors”.)

The request for unanimous consent was introduced by Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV). “By failing to object to Sen. Jacky Rosen’s resolution, Republicans agreed that the president ‘should not grant a pardon, commutation, or any other form of executive clemency to Ghislaine Maxwell.’” Axios.

The only way to interpret the unanimous consent vote is that Trump remains politically vulnerable on the Epstein case. The unanimous consent resolution is the second time that Senate Republicans have abandoned Trump over Epstein—a sign of his weakness in the Senate and the GOP Senators’ vulnerability on the campaign trail. The Epstein Files Transparency Act also passed the Senate by unanimous consent

Finally, Majority Leader John Thune continues to resist Trump’s efforts to pass the SAVE America Act by terminating the filibuster. On Wednesday, Trump dumped on Thune, claiming that Thune “had the votes” to pass the SAVE Act but was simply refusing to bring it to the floor—a demonstrably false statement. See Time, John Thune Isn’t Bowing to Trump’s Pressure: ‘Show Me How This Ends’.

Trump said the following in the Oval Office on Wednesday when a reporter asked about the prospects for the SAVE America Act in the Senate:

“That’s too bad for [Thune] and too bad for the Republican Party. He’s got the votes. He should get it done.”

Thune had previously rejected Trump’s demand to pass the SAVE America Act by terminating the filibuster. Thune said,

If the endgame is, we actually get an outcome or result, we could stay here until Christmas. But Democrats aren’t voting for this, I’m just telling you. And the Republicans are not getting rid of the legislative filibuster. . . . Show me how this ends. What’s the picture of victory at the end?

To be clear, the Republican majority in the Senate would allow them to end the filibuster (which would take only 51 votes). But they won’t kill the filibuster because they realize it would be an extinction-level event for the Republican Party. The GOP has maintained minority control through gerrymandering and the filibuster. If Republicans kill the filibuster, gerrymandering would be the first thing to go when Democrats achieve a trifecta in January 2029.

Comey and Fauci resist Trump’s campaign of vengeance.

Trump’s DOJ has indicted former FBI Director James Comey for publishing a picture of seashells on a beach that depicted the numbers 86 47. Trump claimed the photo was an assassination threat against him and ordered the DOJ to indict James Comey. The DOJ complied post haste.

Comey contends that the indictment was the product of selective prosecution because he is a political enemy of the president. The court allowed Comey to conduct discovery of the government’s case. His attorney filed an affidavit on Wednesday that contained damning evidence that Trump personally monitored the investigation of Comey by using his Secret Service detail as go-betweens with the DOJ.

The materials filed in the affidavit show that the Secret Service and the FBI were dubious about the legal grounds for surveilling Comey after he posted the photos. (Surveilling a cell phone’s location is usually reserved for someone who represents an imminent threat of violence.)

See MSN/CBS, Comey claims DOJ ordered illegal surveillance, seeks dismissal of “86 47” case.

Per the MSN article,

Filings submitted by [Comey’s] lawyers show discussions between Secret Service staff about “pinging” Comey’s phone to track its location, which some personnel viewed skeptically, and a request for Verizon to provide location information due to an “emergency” situation. At the time, Comey was set to travel from North Carolina to his Virginia home. “At that time we did not believe that anyone’s life was in immediate danger and legally it was a bad idea to ping the phone,” an unnamed Secret Service official said in one message. [¶] Again citing the evidence reviewed by Fitzgerald, Comey’s legal team said the witness told law enforcement in both interviews that their first reaction to the “86 47” post was that it was related to restaurant slang that an establishment was out of a menu item, until they listened to an episode of Rudy Giuliani’s podcast.

The affidavit also included a 76-page spreadsheet listing the times that Trump attacked or insulted Comey.

The case against Comey is likely to be dismissed, and the prosecutors who sought search warrants and the indictment are likely to be disciplined or disbarred. Comey’s motion alleges that the prosecutors and FBI agents who sought the search warrants and the indictment “omitted facts” known to the FBI agent who sought the warrant and “misled the magistrates with material falsehoods.” If true, the prosecutors should lawyer up for their own defense.

Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning as part of Senator Rand Paul’s ongoing show trials designed to prove his conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19. Senator Paul has repeatedly said that Dr. Fauci should be in jail for lying about the origins of COVID. Under those circumstances, Dr. Fauci did what any rational person would do: he exercised his Fifth Amendment to refuse to testify. For background and details, see generally NYTimes, Fauci Repeatedly Refuses to Answer Senators’ Questions at Volatile Hearing. (Gift link.)

Exercising the constitutional right against self-incrimination is neither improper nor illegal. But Senator Paul told Dr Fauci that there would be “consequences” for exercising his constitutional right to remain silent. Indeed, Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are scheduled to vote next week on a resolution to hold Dr. Fauci in contempt of Congress, which would lay the predicate for a criminal prosecution. (See Times’ article, above.

While Dr. Fauci’s may be put to great trouble or expense for exercising his constitutional right, he will never be convicted of a crime. Like most of Trump’s prosecutions of his enemies, the point is not to convict, but to intimidate and harass. Indeed, Trump acknowledged that President Biden’s pardon of Dr. Fauci likely precludes any successful criminal prosecution of Dr. Fauci. (See Times’ article above.)

But the worst part of the Republican show trial is that ignorant Republican Senators like Josh Hawley posted statements like, “Hint for you: No honest person invokes the Fifth Amendment.”

Hmm . . . let’s see. Do we know anyone else who has ever invoked the Fifth Amendment? I know! Trump! He did so more than 400 times in New York’s lawsuit alleging he lied on his financial statements! So, according to Senator Hawley’s logic, Trump admitted his guilt by invoking the Fifth Amendment. See HuffPo, Sen. Josh Hawley Makes Bold Claim Against Pleading The Fifth And People Bring Up Trump.

Idiot. It’s hard to believe that Josh Hawley graduated from Yale Law School, or any law school for that matter.

Trump selectively denied FEMA funding to Democratic-controlled cities and states.

An analysis by Politico found that Trump has denied FEMA funding to Democratic-controlled cities and states. Politico’s chart below tells the story:

Of course, Republicans live in Democratic-controlled cities and states. Indeed, control of the House may turn on a handful of GOP-held seats in California, which has been punished by Trump under his partisan FEMA policy. The above chart should be incorporated into television and social media ads against California Republicans running for re-election to the House.

Trump’s war against Iran is an unfolding disaster.

I have run out of time to cover the disastrous unfolding of Trump’s war against Iran. Wednesday brought an Iranian attack on ships in an Egyptian port on the Mediterranean—a major escalation of the geographic scope of the war. See NYTimes, Two Ships Hit in Apparent Drone Strike at Egyptian Port.

There is more, but you get the point.

Concluding Thoughts

Writer Rebecca Solnit is always profound, and her latest essay is no exception. Several readers forwarded her most recent post to me with high praise, saying that it deserved to be shared with my readers. I agree. See Rebecca Solnit, Meditations in an Emergency, Lifeguards and Angels.

The central metaphor revolves around a viral video of a 16-year-old lifeguard saving a youth caught in rough waves off the California coast. There are many inspiring passages in the essay, but this is my favorite:

Let me move from an image of a valiant young man in crashing surf to a patient craftsperson at a table. My friend Roshi Joan Halifax writes about kintsugi or kintsukuroi, the Japanese art of reassembling treasured ceramic pieces, when they break, with golden glue, so that the breaks are not hidden but rendered beautiful; the piece does not return to what it once was but becomes a new and different object bearing in these golden veins the marks of its damage and its repair.

But Trump doesn't like it when someone talks about him in such a way. So Trump is setting out to ruin a man's life because he hurt Trump's feelings.

This is why Comey is being indicted.

But my question is:

Does Trump understand that to prove that Comey lied... all of Comey's investigation will be reviewed? Does he know that to prove himself innocent,Comey will have to present the evidence that Russia interfered in the election. This whole thing could backfire in Trump's face.

But why didn't get in trouble over Comey's evidence? Comey, a conservative, felt that the president of the United States could not be arrested for committing crimes while he was president. Comey started the whole "presidential immunity" theory.

Ghost was having a discussion with his mom earlier where he was telling her how Trump sent the Secret Service after Comey for posting the 8647 picture. His mom, trying to figure this out, said "I know 86 is throwing someone out, but what's the 47?" To which Ghost explained that Trump is currently the 47th President.

The thing is, she went straight to that. She was very familiar with the term for throwing people out. Which is consistent with the Webster's Dictionary entry and with the bulk of entries on Urban Dictionary going back 20 years. Then she was shocked when Ghost explained that Trump claimed it was an assassination threat.

86 seems to be pretty consistently understood by everyone to be about removal.

Everyone except MAGAts.

And I just... refuse to believe that they are living in such a radically different alternate universe that they have a completely different understanding of this term. But if they know the actual meaning... that means they're lying.

The ones who know the meaning of the word and are going along with it, repeating the Regime's talking points, are overtly lying. They're maliciously trying to gaslight you into not trusting what you know to be true. But the ones who have heard of this and aren't commenting on it, choosing silence, are lying by omission. They're aware that their side is pushing lies, and they are okay sitting back and letting it happen. Either because they don't care as long as they can hurt the other side, or because they're pathetic cowards afraid of what their MAGAt peers would think of them if they dared speak out against the cult.

Both the loud MAGAt echoing the lies and silent MAGAt allowing them to spread are still aiding in the disinformation.

If MAGA supporters truly value free thinking and going against the mainstream as they occasionally pretend to, it should be no small matter for those who know what 86 means from their own life experiences to speak up against the lies other MAGAts are spreading when they claim it's an assassination threat.

To not speak up against the disinformation makes you complicit. If not from malice, then from cowardice.

And I don't know which I have less respect for.

Not “approved the wrong draft.”

Not “approved it but the transcript got lost.”

No.

They straight-up skipped the entire indictment step and hoped nobody would notice.

The government forgot the literal requirement for an indictment.

Having an indictment.

If this wasn’t happening in real life, you’d assume it was a satire about a collapsing empire.