Where’s the Beef? 1/6 Hearing Curtain Raiser

By Ken Zino

With the republic facing another public hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol Wednesday, let’s take a look at the fast-breaking developments last week of Donald J. Trump versus the United States of America. Part of the committees’ remit is “to strengthen the security and resilience of the United States and American democratic institutions against violence, domestic terrorism, and domestic violent extremism.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta in a stinging rebuke of Judge Aileen Cannon’s contrary decision, agreed with the Justice Department to let the FBI reclaim access and use 100 classified documents (and “papers physically attached to them”) taken from Trump’s residence in Florida while conducting a legal search. The Trump-appointed (just after the 2020 election) Cannon had ruled that DOJ was not to present “the seized materials to a grand jury and (use) the content of the documents to conduct witness interviews as part of a criminal investigation.” 

Trump’s preposterous argument that he de-classified the documents, either verbally or non-verbally was not addressed by his attorneys (mindful of their own futures if they advised Trump otherwise since there are clear procedures for de-classification?) was rejected completely in the appellate court ruling that said the law should not give Trump special treatment no matter what he was or is. So damaging was the ruling apparently to Cannon’s future career that she cancelled her stay against the use of the documents on the very evening the Court of Appeals issued the reproach.

Then came the special master that the Cannon ruling specified … as part of her egregious opinion in favor of the legally imperiled Trump and his attorneys. Enter special master Raymond J. Dearie, semi-retired judge from the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He was proposed by Trump’s attorneys and DOJ agreed that he read and sort through 11,000 records or documents that left the White House and turned up in the long-delayed August 8 search of Mar-a-Lago, after more than a year of DOJ maneuvering to get the National Security documents returned.

Dearie, who clearly is tired of all the lies and false arguments floating about in Trump-land in effect said, “Where’s the beef?” Dearie issued an order after the appellate court ruling asking Trump’s lawyers to let him know if there were any discrepancies between the documents that were kept at Mar-a-Lago and those the FBI said it had hauled away. He was countering false allegations that the FBI planted documents. Where’s your evidence, Trump? 

This whole sordid affair would be farce if it solely existed on a Broadway stage: Mari Lago Magic Wand Madness Review and the Art of the Steal. The absurd jokes and steady laughter start as the curtain rises. A president can declassify simply by thinking about it, Trump told Sean Hannity. Guffaw. And the FBI in its legal search was really looking for the deleted e-mails of Hillary Clinton. Guffaw, guffaw. If they are deleted how would Trump have possession of them? Guffaw, guffaw, guffaw. If Trump had them, he certainly would have used them during the last 18 months when he illegally removed presidential records from the White House. Right? Guffaw. Guffaw, guffaw, guffaw. 

Enter stage left, the New York attorney general with fraud charges, looking to fine Trump $250 million and stop him from doing business ever again in the state. Another “witch hunt” claim is not enough. Trump counters by appearing at his own rallies as a QAnon true believer and booster. Wait, there’s a last-minute script change. It’s Trump and company who are the Satan-worshipping pedophiles in our midst sucking the blood of our children so they won’t live to defend our democracy. 

Curtain for the Mari Lago Magic Wand Madness Review and Art of the Steal?

As grim as Trump’s legal prospects look, there’s also the prospect of conspiracy charges over the 1/6 mob’s effort to have Mike Pence hanged, and ongoing election interference charges in Georgia. Perhaps now, finally, the GOP establishment has had enough. Nonetheless, all the investigations and potential charges haven’t significantly changed people’s views of him, a New York Times/Siena College poll found.

I’m not looking forward to a sequel. Let’s hope the backers -- the institutions and people who support American democracy -- turn off the money and shut Trump and the Art of the Steal down. The show’s over. 

_____

…meanwhile…

(TUE 9/27/22)

1/6 HEARING DELAYED -- The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol has delayed its ninth, and potentially last, public hearing originally scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, because of Hurricane Ian brewing off the Florida coast, NPR reports. The make-up date and time is to be announced later.

•••

Continuing Resolution Update – The White House has asked for a continuing resolution extending the fiscal year past Friday with $47 billion in short-term spending, including $13.7 billion for additional aid to Ukraine, Government Executive reports (govexec.com). The CR also would include $22.4 billion in short-term COVID needs, $4.5 billion for monkeypox vaccinations, testing and treatments, and $6.5 billion to help tribes and territories deal with natural disasters and extreme weather events. 

Bipartisan support: The additional aid to Ukraine has sufficient bipartisan support in the Senate, NPR’s Morning Edition says, where 60 votes are needed for passage. That’s at least 10 Republicans as well as all the Democrats, of course. We’ll be watching to see which MAGA-leaning Republican senators support the vote.

•••

Cost of College Debt Forgiveness – President Biden’s plan to cancel student debt will cost $420 billion, of which $20 billion is the extension of a pause on student loan payments, according to the Congressional Budget Office, per The Washington Post. The number is roughly equal to the cost of the $1,400 stimulus checks mailed to Americans for pandemic relief at the beginning of the Biden administration. 

Upshot: Cancelling student debt always was going to be a major issue for the midterm elections, with Republican candidates objecting to shifting the student loan payments from former students and their families to taxpayers.

•••

Jury Selection for Oath Keepers Trial – A federal trial for the far-right Oath Keepers for allegedly helping organize the January 6 Capitol insurrection begins Tuesday, NPR reports. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and his co-defendants are accused of spending months recruiting, training and conspiring to use force to prevent the transfer of power from Donald J. Trump to Joe Biden, according to Morning Edition. The alleged plot included storing guns in Washington, D.C., for a quick reaction force to rush into the city on January 6, if necessary.

•••

Fake Disinformation Accounts for War in Ukraine – Facebook and Instagram owner Meta was used for hundreds of fake social media accounts and sham news websites that attempted to advance Russia’s cause in its invasion of Ukraine, the Associated Press reports. The scheme involved more than 60 websites designed to mimic legitimate news outlets, including the United Kingdom’s Guardian and Germany’s Der Spiegel that spread Kremlin talking points about President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Meta said Tuesday.

Note: The Guardian is among news outlets aggregated by our daily coverage. We always go directly to theguardian.com, not via social media.

•••

On Italy’s Right-Turn – Italy’s new coalition government, led by far-right Brothers of Italy candidate Giorgia Meloni, who becomes the prime minister replacing technocrat Mario Draghi, “threatens to fragment the European Union when unity is more urgent than ever,” Nicholas Lokker and Jason C. Moyer write for The Wilson Center (wilsoncenter.org). While Meloni’s new coalition government has been described as Italy’s most conservative since World War II, the new prime minister has repeatedly expressed support for Ukraine to maintain its democracy in its fight against Russian aggression.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________

What's Up This Week (MON 9/26/22)

Hearing IX – Potentially the last public hearing of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol is scheduled for this Wednesday beginning 1 p.m. Eastern time. 

“It is possible that it’s the last,” committee member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) told NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. “But as we continue to work, we wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an additional public hearing.”

The 1/6 panel may be running out of time as the GOP probably retakes the House of Representatives in the November 8 midterms. 

Meanwhile, the committee also will interview conservative activist and Supreme Court justice-spouse Virginia Thomas, who exchanged emails with John Eastman, the attorney seen as instrumental in planning alleged Trump White House attempts to reverse the election results. 

“Eastman is the architect of the scheme that one federal judge has described as criminal, and we’d like to learn more about it,” Lofgren said.

Left-column preview: Be sure to read pundit Ken Zino’s Hearing IX “Curtain Raiser” in the left column.

•••

Senate and House Schedules – Both chambers are off Monday, with the Senate returning Tuesday, as Rosh Hashana concludes, through Friday. The House is in session Wednesday through Friday. 

Critical CR: Both the House and Senate must pass a continuing resolution this week to avoid partial shutdown of the federal government. The fiscal year ends Friday. 

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

On the Right

The midterm elections are quickly approaching. If the Republican Party retakes the House of Representatives, there will be precious little time for the Justice Department to follow up on the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 Capitol insurrection’s findings. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) already has made it clear a flip of his chamber means an investigation of the investigators. 

In today’s left column, pundit Ken Zino lays out the current state of the cases against former President Trump. 

What do you think? Comment in the box below or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____

It’s About Hillary’s Emails

Donald J. Trump still hasn’t explained why he took more than 11,000 government documents, including more than 100 confidential papers, that the FBI found at Mar-a-Lago August 8. He does have a theory of why the FBI searched his Florida estate in the first place.

“There’s also a lot of speculation because of what they did, the severity of the FBI coming and raiding Mar-a-Lago,” Trump said in an “exclusive” interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News. “Were they looking for the Hillary Clinton emails that were deleted but they are around someplace? They may have thought that it was in there!”

The ex-president also repeated on Hannity his claim that he declassified the documents seized by the FBI: "There doesn't have to be a process ... I declassified everything..." even by thinking about it. To repeat, Trump's attorneys avoided repeating this explanation in court so to avoid potential perjury.

Comment in the box below or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____

…meanwhile…

Russia Holds Sham Referendums in Ukraine – ‘Voting’ held by Russia in parts of four eastern and southeastern regions of Ukraine began Friday and continues through Tuesday, NPR reports. The “referendums” to hand parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia over to Russia are illegal under Ukrainian and international law. President Biden has called the referendums a “sham,” and locals, many of whom are reported leaving ahead of the “voting” have described to Morning Editionthe same sort of “voting” in Crimea eight years ago by armed soldiers going door-to-door with paper ballots.

Thread of anti-democratic threats: Voter suppression can come in many forms, whether door-to-door balloting by armed soldiers or false claims of a “stolen election”
 and legislation that could allow state legislators to overturn the popular vote. 

Note: No reaction, yet, from Donald J. Trump, the former president who last February called Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “savvy.” … “He used the word ‘independent’ and “we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’”

•••

Preventing a Shutdown? – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took preliminary steps Thursday toward passing a continuing resolution (CR) to prevent a partial shutdown of the federal government when the fiscal year ends next Friday, September 30, CQ Roll Call reports. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters the House is ready to take up consideration of the CR next week under its “same-day rule” authority. The CR would kick that funding can down to December 16.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________

(THU 9/22/22)

Go, DOJ – It’s back on, the Justice Department’s review of more than 100 classified documents among 11,000 federal government papers seized by the FBI from Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and private club. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Federal District Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling for the appointment of a special master, NPR’s Morning Editionreports. The higher court did not buy Trump’s argument that he de-classified the documents – either verbally or non-verbally, a point his attorneys have not argued – and instead ruled that the law should not give Trump special treatment. 

Trump’s court score: 1-3. Cannon, appointed by Trump after he lost the 2020 election, granted the former president’s request for a special master. That special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, was favored by Trump’s attorneys for the role, but indicated earlier this week he would allow DOJ to resume reviewing the records. Two of the three judges on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals also were Trump appointees and ruled unanimously in favor of the Justice Department (the third was appointed by President Obama), NPR says. 

Dearie’s not done: The special master will continue to review documents seized that are not marked “confidential.”

•••

1/6 Panel to Interview Ginni Thomas – Conservative activist, Trump supporter and wife of a Supreme Court justice, Virginia Thomas has agreed to sit for an interview with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, CNN reported late Wednesday (hat tip to Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay, who has suggested the House panel’s full name should be repeated often). 

“I can confirm that Ginni Thomas has agreed to participate in a voluntary interview with the committee,” her attorney, Mark Paoletta, said in a statement (per The New York Times). 

The House committee requested an interview with Thomas in June, after texts between the wife of SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas and Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and especially conservative attorney John Eastman came to light. The texts were exchanged on and around January 6, 2021.

The House Select Committee is scheduled to hold its final public hearing Wednesday, September 28.

•••

DOJ Investigates MyPillow Guy – The pillow company CEO’s name, Mike Lindell, will become better-known. The Hillreports that the Justice Department is investigating Lindell over potential identity theft and damage to a protected computer in connection with a breach of Mesa County, Colorado’s voting system. The FBI seized the MyPillow Guy’s – er, Lindell’s – mobile phone last week at a Hardee’s drive-through in Mankato, Minnesota. 

•••

To Prevent Another 1/6 – The House Wednesday passed the Presidential Election Reform Act, 229-203, written to update the 1887 Electoral Count Act that allowed challenges to the 2020 presidential election in Congress on January 6, 2021, NPR reports. The House bill was written by 1/6 Select Committee members Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). Nine Republicans joined all Democrats to pass the bill.

The 38-page bill would make it more difficult for members of Congress to stop the otherwise ceremonial Electoral College count, according to NPR’s Morning Edition. A “similar but not identical” bill that a bipartisan group of senators, led Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Susan Collins (R-ME), have been working on this year.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Cases Against Trump

As Donald J. Trump continues to tease his fans with a possible run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, there are at least five potential legal cases against him in addition to the New York state civil case announced by Attorney Gen. Letitia James on Wednesday (scroll down with the far-right bar to read the center column news story). Those five other cases, according to Reuters, are …

•A New York state criminal investigation on tax fraud charges, related to the civil case. James said her office is working with investigators to share evidence.

•Mar-a-Lagogate. The Department of Justice may now continue to examine confidential documents seized from Trump’s Florida residence on August 8 (see …meanwhile…).

•Defamation case by former Elle magazine writer E. Jean Carroll, who sued in 2019 after Trump denied her rape allegations and countered that she was trying to sell books. In a letter made public Tuesday, Carroll’s attorney said she also intends to sue Trump for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

•The House Select Committee’s investigations into whether Trump instigated the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

•Georgia’s election tampering probe – re: the former president’s call asking to find 11,780 more votes.

Considering Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) recent warning that any criminal indictment of Trump would unleash 1/6-style riots across the country by his followers, the New York civil case may prove the most effective in stymieing the former president’s 2024 campaign dreams. As legal scholars constantly debate what it would mean to the U.S. – Trump’s political enemies as well as his MAGA followers – to potentially see him handcuffed, the relief New York Attorney Gen. James seeks would effectively shut down his businesses, including real estate deals, and potentially cost him $250 million in damages, while exposing details of his true wealth. 

What do you think? Comment in the box below or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____

DeSantis Sued Over Flights

Venezuelan immigrants in the U.S. legally as they seek asylum have filed a class action lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and other state officials, NPR reports, for flying them from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses. Calling the two flights a “pre-meditated political stunt,” some of the immigrants say they were “terrified” after being lured on to the airplanes with promises of food and shoes. DeSantis’ office says the flights were “done on a voluntary basis,” according to CNN.

Your thoughts on these flights, Vladimir Putin’s “partial military call-up,” and no cake for eating by Donald J. Trump’s attorneys in Mar-a-Lagogate are welcome in the Comment box below or by email to editors@thehustings.news.

_____

NY AG Sues Trump for “Massive Fraud”

(WED 9/21/22)

New York State Attorney General Letitia James (center, above) announced a $250-million-plus civil suit against ex-President Trump, his family and his company. The suit seeks to permanently bar Donald J. Trump, sons Don Jr. and Eric, and daughter Ivanka from doing business in the state, James announced in a press conference Wednesday. 

The former president also would be barred for five years from entering any commercial real estate acquisition in the state and from applying for any loans from New York-registered financial institutions.

The suit alleges Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars over the years. The investigation covered 2011-2021. Of her many examples of alleged over-value, one included the former president’s own apartment at Trump Tower Manhattan, which was listed at 30,000 square-feet, roughly three times its actual size. As a result, the likely value of $127 million was inflated to $317 million in 2012, still more than any apartment sold in Manhattan.

Mar-a-Lago revenue should have been valued at less than $25 million per year, and no higher than $75 million per year – Trump valued his Florida residence and private club at $739 million, she said. No word on the value of Trump’s golden escalator.

The suit also includes these remedies:

• An independent monitor to oversee compliance, financial reporting, valuations and disclosure to tax authorities for no less than five years. 

•Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)-compliant audited statements, showing Trump’s net worth, for five years.

•Replacement of current trustees of Donald Trump’s revocable trust with independent trustees.

The suit also seeks to permanently bar former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and controller Jeffrey McConney from serving in financial control of any New York corporation or similar entity in the state. James said former Trump fixer Michael Cohen’s testimony before Congress sparked her office’s investigation. Such alleged white-collar fraud is not “victimless” crime, she said.

“When the well-connected break the law it reduces resources to working people, to regular people, to small businesses and to taxpayers,” James remarked. 

“Claiming you have money that you do not have is not the Art of the Deal. It is the art of the steal.”

•••

Biden Speaks to UN – President Biden did not have to alter his speech much, before the 77th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in light of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bellicose statement about extending his attack on Ukraine.

“This war is about extinguishing Ukraine’s right to exist as a state,” Biden said, “plain and simple. And Ukraine’s right to exist as a people. Whoever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe, that should make your blood run cold.”

Biden equated the fight for Ukraine’s sovereignty as a democratic nation with the struggle to maintain democracy everywhere, including the U.S.

“The only country standing in the way of that is Russia,” he said. While Biden was expected to alter his remarks after Putin announced his “partial military call up” CNN reports the president’s speech written before that announcement held up.

Extending the UN Permanent Security Council: Biden noted that 141 nations share the United States’ condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He called on the UN to expand its permanent Security Council, which since its inception consists of China, France, the Russian Federation (previously Soviet Union), the United Kingdom and the U.S. Currently, any single country among these five may veto a UN resolution.

Global food security: Biden also announced $2.9 billion in federal funding to strengthen global food security. He disputed Putin’s statement that current global food insecurity is the result of Western sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. 

“Our sanctions explicitly allow Russia the ability to export food and fertilizer,” Biden said.

•••

Putin’s Not Bluffing? – Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “partial military call-up” mobilizing up to 300,000 reservists – falling just short of a draft -- to hold its border with Ukraine, the AP and NPR report. This has set Russians “scrambling” to buy airline tickets out of their country. In his seven-minute address Wednesday, Putin “also warned the West he isn’t bluffing about using all the means at his proposal to protect Russia’s territory,” a veiled reference to the country’s nuclear capability. 

But Russian nukes, as always, are held in-check by Western nations’ capabilities, Sergey Radchenko, professor of Russian history at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told NPR’s Morning Edition, so Putin’s claim his sabre-rattling is not a bluff hints it is indeed a bluff. And U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink tweeted that Russia is showing “weakness” and “failure” after its escalation of the war. She vowed that the U.S. will never recognize Russia’s scheme to claim Ukrainian territory.

Radchenko said plans announced Tuesday by eastern and southern regions of Ukraine currently controlled by Russia to hold votes on becoming an integral part of Russia – which Ukrainian President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy has called a “sham” – is a ploy for Putin to claim that it is Ukraine doing the invading when the country tries to take back those territories.

Biden’s UN Speech: Coming up Wednesday morning, President Biden speaks before the United Nations General Assembly (which Putin will not attend, despite Russia’s membership). The White House is scrambling to rewrite Biden’s speech in light of Putin’s announcement from Moscow, MSNBC’s Morning Joe reports.

•••

No Cake in Mar-a-Lagogate – Special Master Raymond Dearie, the candidate of the two candidates named by Donald J. Trump’s attorneys who was agreed to by the Justice Department, “appeared skeptical” about the former president’s claim he “declassified” classified documents recovered in the FBI’s August 8 search of Mar-a-Lago, as Time put it Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, Judge Dearie told Trump’s attorneys “You can’t have your cake and eat it.” 

Upshot: Trump’s attorneys have avoided arguing that Trump had declassified the documents for fear of breaching ethics standards with an untruth.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

The Right on Putin

No question that “traditional” Republicans, especially the never-Trumpers, are with President Biden on U.S. support for Ukraine and against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military invasion of the country. After all, when 57 House Republicans and 11 GOP senators voted against last April’s $11.7-billion package of additional aid to Ukraine, that left 155 House Republicans and 39 GOP senators who voted in-favor. 

But the MAGA wing that still dominates the party remains ambivalent, at best, toward Zelenskyy, who as Ukraine’s newly elected president in 2019 was asked by then-President Trump in his “perfect call” to help find dirt on future First Son Hunter Biden. More recently, just last August, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbån, the sole NATO nation ally to Putin and a fierce critic of Zelenskyy addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas. 

The MAGA-right have been relatively quiet on Putin since. We want to know your take, especially from those of you on the right. What are your thoughts on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bellicose speech announcing a “partial military call-up”? Is it time for all American conservatives to back Ukraine against Russia?

While we’ve got you here, what about the special master, Judge Raymond Dearie’s indication he will not carry the water for former President Trump on classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago? 

Hit the Comment box below or email editors@thehustings.news.

--TL

_____

Trump’s Golden Ruling 

By Ken Zino

I’m hardly surprised given the smell of sulfur surrounding all things Trumpion that federal Judge Aileen M. Cannon -- appointed by Trump -- has ruled in favor of the ex-prez’s attorneys’ demand for a special master.

Trump, once again aided and abetted by the Golden Rule (he who has the gold rules) is delaying and obstructing an investigation that at a minimum raises grave national security concerns. In the latest Through the Looking Glass legal move, by Aileen -- not Alice – Cannon, the judge said she had no idea if there are any classified documents involved even though Trump’s lawyers had not presented any evidence whatsoever that the documents in question were not classified. DOJ did illustrate the classified nature of the documents with photographic precision along with sworn depositions. Canon refused to change any part of a ruling she issued last week that prohibited (Barr-ed so to speak) the department from using the documents, including 100 documents clearly marked classified in its investigation, until that special master arbiter had completed a review.

So over to Raymond J. Dearie, a semi-retired judge and now special master from the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York to read and sort through 11,000 records or documents that illegally left the White House and turned up in the long-delayed August 8 search of Mar-o-Lago after more than a year of DOJ maneuvering to get the National Security documents returned. 

The Department of Justice without doubt will appeal this ludicrous ruling. For the moment, the deny, delay … obfuscate Trumpion strategy is, like old man river, rolling along. 

_____________________________________

Cannon for SCOTUS? (FRI 9/16/22)

U.S. District Court Judge and potential Supreme Court nominee if Donald J. Trump grabs the 2024 presidential election Aileen Cannon famously – infamously? – was elevated to the Southern District of Florida by Trump after Trump lost his 2020 re-election bid. Her rulings in the Justice Department investigation of classified government documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago (conveniently located in the Southern District of Florida) uphold the ex-president’s lifelong ability to slow any legal proceedings against him and his businesses, to a crawl.

This headline will send chills up the spines of the left and the never-Trump right, but whether you agree or disagree with this assessment, we want to hear from you. Hit the Comment box below, or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____

…meanwhile…

(TUE 9/20/22)

Mortgage Rates Hit 6% -- The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee is expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points (0.75%), when it meets Tuesday and Wednesday, Punchbowl News reports. The Fed has been imposing big increases in the interest rate since inflation hit 40-year record highs, and Chairman Jerome Powell (pictured above) will likely signal more big increases until inflation comes down significantly from its current 8.3% annual rate. The mortgage rate is running at 6% for the first time since the inauspicious year 2008. 

Note: Warnings of a coming recession among some economists (and most Republicans, looking to save their prospects in the midterms) are offset by other economists (and the Biden White House) who point to record-low unemployment and high job growth. The economic anomaly is that we’re still suffering the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic (despite Biden’s claim on 60 Minutes that it’s over) as well as the effects of the cutoff of Russian oil to Europe, where Germany and the United Kingdom in particular, are suffering higher inflation rates and face almost certain recession and a cold winter. 

This is not to downplay the economic suffering of the American working- and middle-classes, but if Vladimir Putin has had any personal success in his brutal attack on Ukraine, it’s that he has hijacked potential economic recovery in the West following shutdowns from the pandemic. 

•••

Texas Sheriff Investigates DeSantis’ Flights – Bexar County, Texas Sheriff Javier Salazar (D) has opened an investigation into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) political stunt he played out on Fox News in which 50 Venezuelan migrants were flown from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts last week. The migrants had turned them in to U.S. Border Patrol after crossing from Mexico and were granted “temporary protected status,” and Salazar is looking into whether they were “lured from the Migrant Resource Center” under “false promises” for work and assistance, according to The Washington Post.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________

This Week in NYC and DC (MON 9/19/22)

(United Nations HQ, New York City)

The White House – Joe and Jill Biden attended Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London Monday as the United States had a chance to react to the president’s comments on CBS News’ 60 Minutes Sunday night that U.S. troops would defend Taiwan if China conducted an “unprecedented attack.” 

“So unlike Ukraine, to be clear, sir, U.S. forces, U.S. men and women would defend Taiwan in the case of a Chinese invasion?” 60 Minutes’ Scott Pelley asked.

“Yes,” Biden replied.

Chinese spokesman Liu Pengyu said in a series of tweets that Biden’s remarks “sends wrong signals to Taiwan independence’ separatist forces, and severely jeopardizes China-U.S. relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” CBS News reports. 

Biden also told Pelley that he hasn’t decided whether to run for re-election in 2024, and said that he was not briefed about the top-secret documents found at Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, nor was he aware of the FBI’s search warrant ahead of time.

•••

This Week – The United Nations 77th General Assembly begins Monday at its New York City headquarters, the first in-person meeting since 2019. President Biden is expected to give his speech Wednesday on the war in Ukraine and on climate change, a day later than the U.S. president’s usual place on the schedule, because of his attendance at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.

The House of Representatives and Senate are in-session Monday through Thursday; the Senate only is in session on Friday.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________

...meanwhile... (FRI-SUN 9/16-18/22)

(Judge Cannon)

Judge Picks Dearie -- This all seems to have gone to Donald J. Trump’s plans, with a federal judge he appointed after losing the 2020 election refusing to allow the Justice Department to review documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago home August 8 until a special master requested – demanded – by the ex-president’s attorneys has examined them first. That special master appointed by Judge Aileen Cannon Thursday, senior New York Federal Judge Raymond Dearie, was proposed by Trump’s attorneys and deemed acceptable by the Justice Department. 

The Justice Department is not allowed to use the sensitive documents in its investigation while Dearie reviews them and is expected to appeal Cannon’s ruling before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th District, in Atlanta, The Washington Post reports. 

DOJ had argued that the special master should not be allowed to review the classified documents seized, but Cannon in her ruling said that it is a “matter of dispute” whether the documents marked classified are, in fact, classified. Trump’s attorneys have suggested that the documents may not be classified, but have not asserted that Trump personally declassified them, WaPo says. Trump also has not given any indication why he kept the papers.

Timing is key: Cannon has given Dearie to November 30 to complete his review, which pushes the case well into next year, when the GOP hopes to have majorities in both chambers of Congress and can begin some counter-investigations of its own. By then, too, Trump may very well have announced his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and will continue to accuse the DOJ under the Biden White House of conducting yet another “witch hunt.”

ICYMT1/6CD (In Case You Missed This 1/6 Committee Development): Ex-President Trump’s ultimate chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has agreed to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol.

--Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Democracy’s End Will be Televised

Recent warnings about the likelihood of future January 6-like riots across the nation, including one from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) should not be ignored, Charlie Sykes writes in The Bulwark Monday. Sykes points to an Associated Press story from last Friday outlining ex-President Trump’s growing embrace of QAnon conspiracy theories including photo of The Donald published on his Truth Social platform last Tuesday in which he wears a pin with the words, “The Storm is Coming.”

According to QAnon lore, AP says, “storm” refers to Trump’s “final victory in which he returns to power” and his opponents will be “tried and potentially executed on television.” Trump has published “dozens of Q-related posts” recently, “in contrast to 2020” when he claimed he did not know much about the group.

Read Sykes’ commentary here: https://morningshots.thebulwark.com/p/this-storm-is-coming (subscription required).

--TL

_____________________________________

Rubio Defends Cannon (FRI 9/16/22)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is defending U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon’s rulings on the Justice Department’s investigation of sensitive government documents seized from ex-President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club, saying “attacks against her are just the latest example of hypocrisy from leftists and their media enablers who believe the only time it is acceptable to attack a judge is that if that judge rules against what they want,” per Salon.

Rubio, according to the online magazine, “appears to have served as Cannon’s sponsor” and asked her to apply for the judicial nomination in 2019, after the senator helped create a bipartisan judicial advisory commission that vetted her background. Cannon, who was born in Colombia to a mother who fled Fidel Castro’s Cuba, according to Wikipedia, was confirmed by a bipartisan Senate on November 12, 2020.

Thanks largely to Cannon, the investigation many pundits thought would end Trump’s political career, may at the very least instead help propel the former president to the 2024 Republican Party nomination. 

What do you think? Add your opinion to the Comments box below or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____

‘Wildly Out of Step’

Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he would not lift the filibuster to clear the way for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) proposal to restrict abortions nationwide after 15 weeks, The Guardian reports. Democrats are looking at Graham’s proposed legislation, which would criminalize doctors providing abortions, as a “gift” for the November midterms; a Pew Research poll finds 57% of Americans disapprove of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade. 

The White House says the bill would be “wildly out of step with what Americans believe.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosoi (D-CA) called Graham’s bill “the latest, clearest signal of extreme MAGA Republicans’ intent to criminalize women’s health freedom in all 50 states and arrest doctors for providing basic care.”

What do you think? Hit the Comments box below or in the right column if that’s how you lean, or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____

…meanwhile…

(THU 9/15/22)

Economy Back on Track? – After 20 straight hours of negotiations with labor leaders for freight rail engineers, conductors and other workers, the White House has announced a tentative agreement to preclude a strike set for midnight Friday. The tentative agreement potentially averts another supply chain crisis that could have stopped 30% of cargo shipments in the U.S., NPR reports.

Though the strike deadline forcing the non-stop negotiations was announced just this week, the labor dispute over work schedules as much as pay has been ongoing for years, according to NPR’s Morning Edition. The agreement still faces a vote by labor union members.

Note: The same week Republicans have hit President Biden for touting his programs’ effects on the U.S. economy in the face of disappointing inflation news, the White House has a new “win” to take to the midterms, though consumers-voters will know of this tentative victory only by what would not happen to the economy.

•••

DeSantis Sends Migrants to Martha’s Vineyard – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two full airplanes full of migrants from his state to Martha’s Vineyard, the New York Post reports. Florida’s Department of Transportation has $12 million set aside for such flights by the state legislature. 

Wednesday’s flights transported about 50 migrants, most of them from Venezuela, according to NPR, and some of whom were apparently not completely aware of what was happening. Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (like DeSantis, a Republican) said the arrivals were provided short-term shelter, according to Fox News Digital. 

DeSantis’ communications director, Taryn Fenske, released this statement: “States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the case of those individuals who they have invited to our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states’ and support the Biden administration’s open border policies.”

Note: DeSantis clearly has scored a high-profile victory in his effort to grab the 2024 GOP presidential nomination ahead of fellow Floridian Donald J. Trump. Wouldn't it have been cheaper to simply bus them to another favorite target of DeSantis' Culture War, Walt Disney World?

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________

TUESDAY’S PRIMARIES (WED 9/14/22)

New Hampshire: Incumbent Republican Gov. Chris Sununu easily won his party’s primary, and is heavily favored over the Democratic candidate, Tom Sherman, who won his primary unchallenged. Earlier this year, GOP officials urged Sununu to pack up the governor’s mansion and run for U.S. Senate instead, to offer a strong challenge to incumbent Democrat Maggie Hassan, who is seen as highly vulnerable. 

Hassan instead will defend her seat against an election denier, Don Bolduc, who beat establishment candidate Chuck Morse in the GOP primary. 

Rhode Island: Incumbent Democratic Gov. Dan McKee narrowly beat ex-CVS executive Helena Foulkes, who earned a last-minute endorsement from The Boston Globe, the AP reports. McKee became governor in early 2021, replacing two-term Gov. Gina Raimondo, when she was tapped by the Biden administration for Commerce secretary. McKee’s Republican challenger is Ashley Kalus, who moved from Illinois to Rhode Island after a dispute over a cancelled contract with her COVID-19-testing firm, the AP reports. 

In the race for Rhode Island’s 2nd Congressional District, where Democratic Rep. Jim Langevin is retiring after more than 20 years, his endorsee, state treasurer Seth Magaziner won a crowded primary and faces unchallenged Republican Allan Fung, former mayor of Cranston. 

For the 1st Congressional District, six-term Rep. David Cicilline ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, as did his Republican challenger for the midterm election, Allan Waters, the AP reports.

Delaware: Republican Lee Murphy challenges incumbent Democratic Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester for the state’s at-large Congressional District November 8.

•••

Another Trumper’s Phone Seized: MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell told his podcast audience that FBI agents approached him at a Mankato, Minnesota Hardee’s restaurant and seized his smartphone after questioning him about Mesa County (Colorado) Clerk Tina Peters, Dominion Voting Systems and Ohio educator Doug Frank, who claims voting machines have been manipulated, the AP reports. The MyPillow Guy, as he’s best-known, showed his audience in the video version of The Lindell Report, a letter signed by a U.S. attorney in Colorado that said prosecutors were conducting an “official criminal investigation of a suspected felony,” and mentioned a grand jury. 

The Justice Department did not respond to the AP about the investigation, though an FBI spokeswoman confirmed via email that a warrant had been served at the Hardee’s. 

•••

Kenneth Starr Dies: Kenneth Starr, the “widely respected appeals court judge and solicitor general” (per The New York Times' obituary) who was appointed special counsel in the investigation of President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, died Tuesday at a Houston hospital from complications of surgery related to an undisclosed illness. He was 76. 

•••

CORRECTION: An earlier version of "Another Trumper's Phone Seized" incorrectly stated the state from which Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters works and resides.

--Edited by Todd Lassa

_____

Graham’s Abortion Bill

What is Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) thinking, exactly, in proposing a bill to ban abortions across the U.S. after 15 weeks? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has already pushed back on CNN while other Republican senators, up for re-election this year have been “scrubbing” their websites of hardline rhetoric on the issue as the Democrats look healthier in the midterms over the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center decision overturning Roe v. Wade. 

In his email newsletter The Point! CNN’s Chris Cillizza posits that Graham is giving his fellow Republicans up for re-election this year “talking points” to counter the growing popularity of the other party in a midterm they were supposed to use. Cillizza does have, eh, a point, in that those with the scrubbed social media rhetoric can counter by claiming a different position. 

Perhaps Graham is simply counting on the sustained numbers of MAGA supporters who will pull the voting booth lever for the Republican candidate, regardless of stated platform. 

In any event, Politico says Graham’s bombshell Tuesday diverted attention from the unexpectedly bad inflation news that forced the Biden White House to downplay its day of celebration for the partisan Inflation Reduction Act.

What do you think? Hit the Comments box below or in the left column if that’s how you lean, or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____