Not to put too fine a point on it . . . Oh well, let’s do:
Category: GOP scandals
Steve Bannon’s Prison Commissary List
Good news for Steve Bannon who soon will have his first commissary visit at his home away from home, the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury Connecticut. He’s wasted no time filing out his order form which we acquired from a correctional officer who doesn’t “like the bum.”
The Brave Steve Bannon – From “Victory or Death!” to “Victory or Prison, I Guess . . .”
“(ORDER LIST: 603 U.S.) FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2024 ORDER IN PENDING CASE 23A1129
BANNON, STEPHEN K. V. UNITED STATES
The application for release pending appeal presented to The Chief Justice and by him referred to the Court is denied.”
The man with the sickly green complexion and jaundiced eyes, Steve Bannon, will have one more evening to scare the daylights out of us from his podcast, The War Room before his incarceration at BOP’s Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut.
I, for one, look forward to being able to relax for a while, he scares me so. With him in the hoosegow, I’ll not have to continue to hide in the basement (yes, of my Mother’s house) quivering, for four months anyway, that’s the length of his prison sentence for his contempt of Congress conviction, to begin tomorrow afternoon.
A Purple Heart Kind of Guy
He’s a brave man, one who advises his MAGA soldiers to offer up their lives for good MAGA causes, like liquidating Democrats. He had this to say two weeks ago at Turning Point USA’s People’s Convention, a gathering of recruits for General Bannon’s army which he will of course lead from the front should Donald Trump lose the election:
Between now and Election Day they’re going to try to take out so many people and that’s where it’s next man up, its next woman up. Are you prepared to fight? Are you prepared to give it all? Are you prepared to leave it all on the battlefield?
I can’t hear you and they can’t hear you.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s very simple, victory or death.
Bannon oozes bravery. For example, he was brave enough to file multiple court attempts to avoid having to show up for prison tomorrow. Previous acts of bravery include his beseeching Trump for a pardon for his “Build the Wall” scam, for which his cohorts are presently serving long prison terms while he avoided federal prosecution altogether. New York state, however, has indicted Bannon for virtually the same fraud, money laundering and conspiracy crimes; the gift of Trump’s pardon does not apply to state prosecutions. See the NY AG’s indictment. His trial is in the offing, which, by the way, he characteristically commented on at a 2023 court appearance with “Let’s roll!” The courage of the man . . .
Brave as he is, though, according to the Daily Beast, “[H]e is dreading his soon-to-be-reality of being housed alongside sex offenders and violent criminals when he reports to prison in Connecticut on Monday, a source close to him told The Daily Beast on Friday. . . The source said that’s something Bannon is ‘quite concerned with.'” Surely, this anonymous source is mistaken. Major General Bannon,
being a brave man, will easily fend off any amorous entreaties by fellow inmates simply by the force of his reputation as a man who has survived many lawsuits and other white collar crime wartime experiences.
If you would like to write your well wishes to the brave Mr. Bannon, here’s his address:
Steve Bannon 05635-509.
FCI Danbury
FEDERAL CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION
ROUTE 37
DANBURY, CT 06811
Happy Flag Day, Mrs. Alito!
Arizona Attorney General Gets the Best Gift at Giuliani’s 80th Birthday!
Lest we forget in the midst of Donald Trump’s New York trial for messing with the 2016 election, we’re still in the midst of doling out indictments for 2020 election mischief. Among the states still trying to clear up their 2020 election schemes, Arizona has finally succeeded in serving Rudy Giuliani with his indictment, the worst birthday surprise. In a real sense, Kristen Mayes, Arizona’s AG, bagged the best and biggest prize. . . Awkward. How did he come to this pass? Well, it was an iconic Rudy self-own, among many, perhaps his finest hour.
Until yesterday, during his Palm Beach shindig, Rudy was the only one of eleven indictments that had not been successfully served. In fact, he taunted Arizona officials trying to find and serve him since the indictment was handed down in late April. Yesterday was, in fact, the final day that Arizona could serve him, so the clock was on Giuliani’s side. But he outed himself as only Giuliani can, stupidly broadcasting on Twitter/X during his birthday bash. At 7:06 pm, with his galactically unearned overconfidence he posted this, with an “I win/You lose” accent.
Well, by shortly after eleven o’clock the bigmouth was served on his way to a car. He was full, one supposes, of his jubilant sense of (1) having made it to his 80th year at home rather than prison, and (2) having bamboozled the Arizona judicial system. In fact, he zoomed from penthouse to doghouse, clutching in his paws an indictment birthday gift grab bag full of lovely felonies:
1) FRAUDULENT SCHEMES AND ARTIFICES, in violation of A.R.S. §13-2310{A);
2) FRAUDULENT SCHEMES AND PRACTICES, in violation of A.R.S. §13-2311{A);
3) FORGERY, in violation of A.R.S. § 13-2002{A){1) & {A){3);
4) CHANGING VOTE OF ELECTOR BY CORRUPT MEANS OR INDUCEMENT, in violation of A.R.S. § 16-1006{A){3);
5) TAMPERING WITH A PUBLIC RECORD, in violation A.R.S. § 13-2407{A){3);
6) PRESENTMENT OF FALSE INSTRUMENT FOR FILING, in violation of A.R.S. § 39-161.
Now for the denouement: Attorney General Mayes, with great aplomb posted this:
With more, much more, to come . . .
BREAKING! South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem Withdraws New Book, Republishes It Under New Title
BREAKING! – South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem Revises Her Description of the Deaths of Her Puppy & Goat
05-09-2024, 1:54 p.m., A News Network, Pierre, SD. Governor’s Office, for immediate release.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem released this statement:
My Dear South Dakota friends and supporters, I have recently ended my book tour which is among the most tragic events that this farm girl has ever suffered. It was caused by liars and vicious reporters in the extreme left wing commie-fascist media. Their claims about the deaths of my dog and goat that they say were included in my new book are untrue. Even the excerpts they’ve manufactured are fictitious. So powerful and sinister is the extreme left wing that they’ve managed to brainwash millions. It is, therefore, time for me to go on the offensive and attack our foes with the truth, the truth as I and God understand it.
No gross executions of my dog and goat took place. The truth is quite the opposite: In fact, it was I who was fired on first. I neither sought nor welcomed armed conflict and only did so as a self defense measure. My disgruntled 14-month-old dog Cricket and his vicious co-conspirator, an obnoxious old goat who strutted on the wrong side of the barnyard, chose to arm themselves with military grade weapons and, by trickery, ambush me for obviously Biden-inspired political reasons.
They began by secreting themselves on a chicken farm belonging to my dear neighbors. There, from their hiding places in a gravel pit, they opened fire on a dozen or more defenseless chickens, loading, shooting, and reloading 16-shot clips until they had devastated the chicken herd. When I was informed and arrived at the scene, I called out to them and asked that they cease their killing fire, instead, they turned their attention to me, their primary target, in a blood lust. They fired a dozen rounds as I hit the dirt and drew from my holsters one each of the several pistols and hand grenades I carry with me whenever I visit neighbors. I did not seek this confrontation. Yet, being a South Dakota farm girl I knew that firefights with livestock were a normal life activity, not to be shied away from, particularly by a strong governor who deserves higher office.
It was not long before Cricket began a flanking maneuver while the old craven goat laid down covering fire. I tossed a grenade, I fired my Glock, I nearly took a bullet as I ducked into the gravel pit only to be confronted by that devil goat looking for a gunfight, old western movie style. He hopped toward me, I dove to the left and drew my weapon, firing instinctively as I had done so many times before in shootouts with other farm animals. Being the kind of person South Dakotans want for Vice President in the coming election, I dropped that goat stone dead. Someone had to do it.
Meantime, Cricket had circled around me and growled that fake puppy sound that is meant to disguise their true intentions, but tells a South Dakota farmer that there was death in the offing, either for me or for Cricket. I turned on him and fired, he fired, then, we fought hand to paw, rolling in the sharp gravel that broke each of my fingernails clean off. Cricket tried the old cowards tactic of licking my face, a fake peace entreaty and far too late. A gunshot rang out. For a moment neither of us knew who’d been shot, if shot at all. After a moment I could see. And Cricket was no more. Someone had to do it.
This summary rebuttal of the vile left wing tampering with the text of my book will allow me to resume my nationwide book tour as of this evening when I will appear in Pierre’s Shotgun Shell Bar & Rifle Range, from 8:00 – 9:00 pm. Free beer for all the ladies! I am proud to be your governor until something better materializes. God bless & pass the ammo!
DEFCON 1 – Trump to Receive Intel Briefings on Campaign Trail!
“[N]o one inside the intelligence community is thrilled about briefing a person who is under indictment for mishandling classified information.”
Ken Dilanian, MSNBC, Chris Jansing Reports, March 8, 2024
And That’s an Understatement for the Ages, Mr. Dilanian
Since 1952, presidential candidates have received intel briefings and Trump’s are about to begin. Among the charges against the presumptive GOP-MAGA candidate in the so-called documents case is violating, not only the Presidential Records Act, but the Espionage Act. These intel briefings have never been provided to a candidate of either party who has been so clearly unworthy, and despite the tradition, Trump ought not be anywhere close to classified information.* At the least, if at all, he should be barred from intel briefings until he is the official GOP-MAGA candidate following the nomination convention when he will be the official party candidate, and that privilege I would only grudgingly allow.
* In fact, President Biden, in February 2021, barred Trump from receiving the intelligence briefings traditionally permitted for former presidents.
Trump will not be barred because of the established tradition, not for any statutory command to deliver these briefings. Tradition, though, has its limitations. In the case of the galactically irresponsible Trump. this tradition is unrelated to the danger involved in regard Trump who has his own tradition, that of oten revealing, at his pleasure, significant national security secrets. He has no compunctions whatever and appears to enjoy spilling the classified intelligence beans to anyone he hopes to impress. One of his obvious mega-flaws is a need to be both liked and to be viewed as a person in the know, a dangerous person in any position of importance.
Here are some of the known instances where he offered up secret intel during his presidency and after like M&Ms on Halloween night:
- Early in his term, he divulged to the Russian foreign minister and ambassador, intel about an Islamic State plot. “A Middle Eastern ally that closely guards its own secrets provided the information, which was considered so sensitive that American officials did not share it widely within the United States government or pass it on to other allies.”
- During Christmas season 2018, Trump visited Iraq’s Al Asad Airbase where he posted video on Twitter of several members of Seal Team Five in their camouflage and night-vision goggles, which, however, revealed their location and un-blurred faces.
- In August 2019, he learned in a classified briefing about an explosion at a space launch facility in Iran. He insisted on posting it on Twitter, but was strongly urged to not do so for national security reasons. He did so anyway, telling reporters “We had a photo and I released it, which I have the absolute right to do.” This incident also led to one of Trump’s more infamous and uninformed quotes, to intel staff, “I have declassification authority. I can do anything I want.”
- In 2023, then as citizen Trump, revealed to an Australian billionaire, Anthony Pratt, classified intel about American submarines, including nuclear warhead inventory and how closely they could maneuver to Russian submarines.
And these, serious enough, are just the national security failures that are known. It’s not hard to imagine what else he revealed in office, or out. Proving criminal responsibility is now Special Prosecutor Jack Smith’s job, yet the consistent Trump-caused delays in the documents case, often enabled by presiding Judge Aileen Cannon, may prevent a trial prior to the election. In fact, it’s becoming almost inevitable that voters will be denied knowing whether Trump has violated, with apparent impunity, many provisions of the Presidential Records Act and the Espionage Act.
So, Here’s an Idea! Let’s Freeze Him Out of National Security Briefings
Fortunately, presidential candidate briefings are not as complete and informative as briefings that President Biden receives. An ABC News article point out, candidate Trump would “receive an initial briefing from the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and . . . can ask for a follow-up briefing on any topic. . . In the past, candidates have received no more than three briefings. This election season, [Trump] is expected to have two or three. The briefings become much more frequent and detailed once a candidate becomes the president-elect.” Nevertheless, Trump’s record does not qualify him to receive a single briefing.
As noted, he’s consistently revealed sensitive and top secret information. It’s a certainty that citizen Trump could not now obtain a security clearance. He’s a known national security threat. His financial needs for legal fees make him a candidate for any foreign power to manipulate in order to access, on the sly, national security information. Furthermore, he has not indicated that he even understands the need for secrecy in these matters or that he intends to act differently in the future. Psychologically, he has no compunctions about asserting himself, and does not think that the office of the presidency places any limits on his personal powers. He has a mind for espionage and would be an easy mark. A security clearance would be out of the question even though the candidate briefing tradition does not require one, a practice that needs to be modified.
Moreover, he held this classified information in secret at his Mar A Lago and Westminster New Jersey homes in violation of the Presidential Records Act (PRA). Shockingly, he’s spoken of the PRA as having allowed him to take anything he wants. In plain words, the PRA forbids what Trump believes it permits. Attorney Joyce Vance recently wrote, “Trump insists he designated the documents as personal records under the PRA so his possession of them was authorised and he can’t be prosecuted for it. But he’s never been able to explain how the PRA trumps laws about handling classified and national defence [information]. It doesn’t.” In other words, the PRA does allow certain personal records to be retained by an outgoing president, like note for a memoir. As the National Archives explains:
“In 1978, Congress passed the Presidential Records Act (PRA), which states that any records created or received by the President as part of his constitutional, statutory, or ceremonial duties are the property of the United States government and will be managed by NARA at the end of the administration. The Presidential Records Act (PRA) changed the legal status of Presidential and Vice Presidential materials. Under the PRA, the official records of the President and his staff are owned by the United States, not by the President.” Emphasis in original.
Trump’s admitted openly to taking highly secret documents from the White House. He also has a track record of sharing national security information with others. The tradition allowing national security briefings for candidates must bow before a person so manifestly unreliable, dishonest, and irresponsible as Donald Trump. He must be denied intelligence briefings until, God forbid, he’s President-Elect. Perhaps President Biden will make it so as he did in the matter of briefings for former presidents.
Rudy Charged $148 Million for Defamation, Claims His Check Book Stolen
Trump crime family lawyer Rudy “Stunk Bait” Giuliani had a bad day today. That’s if he’s able to understand what the monetary damages jury just did to him a short time ago: they awarded plaintiffs Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss $148 million, with $115 million of that as punitive damages and for emotional distress. At first, Rudy apparently believed he’d been awarded $148 million, and his lawyer’s spent an hour, using a blackboard and Legos, to explain that, no, he had to pay that amount to the 2020 election workers. They had sought $47 million, but the eight-person jury tacked on $101 million more in a combination of Christmas season cheerful friendliness and justice for Giuliani’s unconscionable streak of defamation, which was still occurring during the monetary damages proceedings. Those outbursts likely cost him tens of millions of dollars. That’s a big hit to his check book, if he can find it.
“I’m not suggesting anything . . .”
Serial defamer Giuliani claimed that he is unable to pay the $148 million and “that ought to be the end of it. I could have paid it, mind you, but my check book was swiped in, of all places, the court. I had it this morning, and poof it was suddenly gone.” Reporters sympathized, themselves also short of cash to pay defamation damages. One ventured to ask, “Do you have any suspects in your investigation so far?”
“Well,” Rudy replied, “I was a prosecutor for many years, as you know, and I know a thing or two about crime, and how to identify criminals. In theft cases, you have to look at who would have a motive to steal. Might, theoretically speaking, the thieves who were unwilling to wait a day or two to collect a hugely unfair amount of money. You also want to know if the thieves were nonwhite women. And whether they were money hungry former poll workers who engaged in massive voter fraud in 2020 and then turned the world on its head and sued a man for defamation, a world renowned man, who did all he could to protect our country from election crimes.”
“Mr. Giuliani,” a reporter asked, “That’s quite a laundry list of attributes you’ve listed. I’m not a lawyer, or much of a thinker, but it seems like you’re blaming the plaintiffs Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss . . .”
“No, absolutely not! I’m merely exercising my first amendment right to speak out, to speculate. I simply suggested a theoretical criminal profile of who is most likely to be rotten, vote cheating thieves. I never said Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. I would not do that. That would be defamation. So shut up about it!” Rudy then cut off the press opportunity and began hitchhiking to his studio apartment in Five Corners.
Santos? In or Out? The Vote
Here’s the vote on expelling George Santos from Congress:
Expel 311
NAY 114
More later