The grand jury transcripts from the Broadview 6 case do more than show the misconduct was worse even than Judge April Perry said. They reveal how flimsy were Sheri Mecklenburg's excuses for charging 6 prominent Democrats rather than more obstructive protestors.
The post How DOJ Threw a Crock of Shit because Kat Abughazaleh Complained about Being Run Over appeared first on emptywheel.
Before any votes to reauthorize FISA, before any votes to seat a permanent DNI, and especially before any votes to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general, Republicans in the Senate need to think long and hard about about the foreign consequences of their votes.
The post The World Knows Trump’s Team is Not Qualified to Use FISA, Too appeared first on emptywheel.
Democrats should do more than refuse to reauthorize FISA 702 until Trump pulls his bid to put Bill Pulte in charge of the Office of Director of National Intelligence. Todd Blanche's history of lying and weaponization makes him patently unqualified to certify FISA certifications, whether for individual FISA orders or 702.
The post Trump’s Team Is Not Qualified to Use FISA appeared first on…
Yet another story describing the extent to which Todd Blanche has weaponized four districts of DOJ against Jim Comey will undoubtedly provide more fodder for a vindictive prosecution that might lead to further disclosures.
The post NYT Details Todd Blanche’s Personal Involvement in 8647ing Jim Comey appeared first on emptywheel.
I suspect Pam Bondi's constant deferral to Todd Blanche in her Oversight testimony last month has more to do with sustaining Blanche's very fragile claims about duplicative files than it does with any attempt to underbus him.
The post DOJ Remains Panicked about So-Called “Duplicative” Jeffrey Epstein Files appeared first on emptywheel.
The Trump Administration agreed to take Donald Trump's name off the Kennedy Center. But Republicans still failed to defund the Terrorist Slush Fund.
The post Fridays with Nicole Sandler appeared first on emptywheel.
DOJ may have superseded the SPLC indictment to fix obvious problems with the first one. But in the process, they provided evidence that DOJ lied about SPLC's motive for keeping its ties to informants secret.
The post In Superseding SPLC Indictment, DOJ Confesses They Made a Big Mistake appeared first on emptywheel.
The day after Todd Blanche claimed to be helpless in the face of Trump's apparent $2 billion quid pro quo with Changpeng Zhao, Trump gave his defense attorney a promotion.
The post Todd Blanche Excused Bribery … and Then Trump Gave Him a Promotion appeared first on emptywheel.
By screwing up her effort to boast about a superseding indictment against SPLC, DOJ spox Emily Covington has only called attention to how cosmetic the changes are.
The post Emily Covington Breaks the Rules to Brag that DOJ Doesn’t Have the Goods against SPLC appeared first on emptywheel.
FISA 702 expires on June 12. That provides Democrats leverage to force Trump to find someone besides Bill Pulte to serve as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
The post Democrats Should Give Trump a Choice: Bill Pulte at DNI or Section 702 Reauthorization appeared first on emptywheel.
Thus far, much of the press has given Trump precisely what this latest con attempts: Headlines overstating that he has given up his Terrorist Slush Fund.
The post Already Suspected of Fraud, Trump Attempts to Extend His Con on the Terrorist Slush Fund appeared first on emptywheel.
In an attempt to claim that judges, rather than Members of Congress, forced Trump to back off plans for a Terrorist Slush Fund, anonymous sources and DOJ falsely claimed that any judge had permanently ruled against the Slush Fund.
The post Trump’s Spinmeisters Pretend Mike Johnson Is a Judge appeared first on emptywheel.
Trump is not helping himself win support from Senate Republicans.
The post Fridays with Nicole Sandler appeared first on emptywheel.
Given two judges' rulings yesterday -- one demanding that DOJ explain why it is dismissing the conviction of Kelly Meggs and his co-conspirators, and another ordering Stan Woodward to explain whether he engaged in fraud by setting up the Terrorist Slush Fund -- Woodward's multiple roles in this scam may become an issue.
The post Stan Woodward’s Many Terrorist-Defending Hats appeared first on…
Andrew Boutros claims that the AUSA with 20-plus year's experience who witnessed some of the alleged misconduct Sheri Mecklenburg engaged in in the Ahmed grand jury was as helpless to do anything about it as the newbie AUSA who was present in the Broadview 6 grand jury.
The post Chicago US Attorney’s Office Claims AUSAs Are Not Responsible for What They Witness in a Grand Jury appeared first on…
Another defendant indictment by Sheri Mecklenburg is asking to have his indictment dismissed for the same kinds of alleged misconduct as blew up the Broadview 6 (-2) case.
The post More Grand Jury Shenanigans in Illinois appeared first on emptywheel.
Jan 6 boosters are arguing that Jacob Chansley, the Q-Shaman, is the kind of guy who should get a payout from Trump's Terrorist Slush Fund. There are several problems with that. Most importantly, Donald Trump's DOJ charged and first jailed Jacob Chansley.
The post “Unhinged from Reality:” Donald J. Trump Caged the Q-Shaman appeared first on emptywheel.
Between now and November it's not clear whether Trump will find a way to reassert his will over Republicans or whether things will start to snowball for Donald Trump.
The post Trump’s Bend Might Break Offense appeared first on emptywheel.
Beneath the redactions in grand jury transcripts DOJ gave to Judge April Perry to review back in April were at least three cases of misconduct.
The post How the Broadview 6 (-2) Case Collapsed appeared first on emptywheel.
Find a way to exacerbate GOP discomfort over Trump's Terrorist Slush Fund. It may be the only way to fight this corrupt gambit.
The post The Returns of 1776: “Just Pay Your Taxes So I Can Enjoy Your Money” appeared first on emptywheel.
Donald Trump has committed a broad swatch of crimes, including crimes committed as a private or corporate person after becoming President. And his personal defense attorney, Todd Blanche, in his role as Acting Attorney General, just claimed to absolve him of all those crimes.
The post Trump’s Personal Attorney Todd Blanche Attempts to Pardon His Boss appeared first on emptywheel.
The US made an exception to their rule that criminal aliens must be deported. With Zbigniew Ziobro, on the run from charges of corruption in Poland, Deputy Secretary of State Chris Landau rolled out a welcome mat.
The post The Alleged Polish Criminal Trump Harbors While Deporting Grannies appeared first on emptywheel.
46 Republican Senators voted to confirm an ideologue Jan6ers, Darin Smith, who already bolloxed the prosecutions of nine felons.
The post Darin Smith’s Misconduct Endangered a Murder Prosecution; 46 Republicans Confirmed Him Anyway appeared first on emptywheel.
Ellis Boyle charged Jim Comey more harshly for his non-threat than he charged several other people charged in the same time frame for actually issuing real threats to Trump or his top aides.
The post Ellis Boyle’s Threat Prosecution Hobby appeared first on emptywheel.
Todd Blanche is not only stealing taxpayer money to pay off Trump's favored terrorists, cop assailants, and child sex predators, but he's trying to insulate himself from any crimes that arise from this scam.
The post Todd Blanche Attempts to Absolve Himself of Complicity in Bribes to Child Sex Abuse Victims appeared first on emptywheel.
Donald Trump goes to China.
The post Fridays with Nicole Sandler appeared first on emptywheel.
One thing Trump's "Human Printer," Natalie Harp does late at night, as she feeds his narcissistic meltdowns, is to stoke distrust of rule of law.
The post Gatekeeper to Narcissistic Meltdown appeared first on emptywheel.
Kash Patel yesterday proved he is willing to lie, in his official capacity, about criminal defendants.
And that puts everything he touches at risk.
The post The FBI Director Proved He Will Lie about Criminal Defendants appeared first on emptywheel.
As expected, the Supreme Court reinstated Jim Crow.
The post Fridays with Nicole Sandler appeared first on emptywheel.
In his lawsuit against Sarah Fitzpatrick, Kash Patel insisted none of her sources were in a position to know that he's a drunk. Now, he's demanding polygraphs from people who very much are in a position to know.
The post Kash Patel Changes His Mind about Sarah Fitzpatrick’s Sources appeared first on emptywheel.