Tuckered Out

UPDATE: Carlson broke his silence Thursday for the first time since being fired by Fox News with a tweet saying “See you soon,” The Hill reports. In a two-minute-plus message, he said that after “stepping outside the noise for a few days” he is gratified by how many “genuinely nice people there are in this country.”

Tucker Carlson Tonight's eponymous host has left the building. Fox News Monday in a statement said that Carlson and the network have mutually agreed to part ways. Carlson's ultimate Tonight broadcast was last Friday night, though the host leaves behind a sort of director's cut of the January 6 Capitol insurrection video recordings after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) handed him previously unseen footage, as well as fawning interviews with Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orbån.

The network will air an interim program creatively titled, Fox News Tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern Time weekdays, with interim personalities until a replacement host is named.

Carlson’s departure comes less than a week after Fox News’ $787.5-million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems. Evidence for Dominion’s lawsuit included emails by Carlson saying he was “fed up” with Donald J. Trump after losing re-election in 2020.

“I hate him passionately,” one of Carlson’s emails said.

•••

Russian, Chinese and Iranian Tweets (Oh My) --

Twitter has lifted “shadow bans” on the government accounts of Russia, China and Iran, NPR reported last week. All Things Considered confirmed Twitter’s “stance of allowing the Russian government posts to pop up freely” on users’ feeds “and has now become company procedure.”

NPR reported the policy change days after the public radio outlet, along with the BBC and others left Twitter after owner/CEO Elon Musk falsely accused these media outlets of being “government funded.”

Musk defended anti-Ukrainian rhetoric posted by former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Twitter, responding; “All news is to some degree propaganda. Let people decide for themselves.”

Irony alert: Twitter is not allowed in Russia, China and Iran, according to the NPR report.

•••

The Hustings is here to offer fact-based news aggregate with no echo-chambers. We are not social media – we are civil media. Post your civil comments in the left or right columns of this page, or email editors@thehustings.news.

_____

…meanwhile…

TUESDAY 2/28/23

(Rupert Murdoch said some Fox News commentators endorsed false allegations of the Big Lie pushed by Donald J. Trump and allies that the 2020 election was stolen, and did not stop the personalities from promoting these claims, according to excerpts of a deposition in the Dominion Systems’ $1.6-billion lawsuit against the network, AP reports.)

House Committee Challenges China – The newly formed House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party holds its first hearing in prime time, 7 p.m. Eastern time Tuesday night, with four witnesses expected. They are former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and former Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger, both from the Trump administration, and human rights activist Tong Yi and Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul.

Chairman is Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), with Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) vice-chair of the refreshingly bi-partisan committee. Ahead of the hearing, Gallagher told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition; “A Chinese spy balloon drifting over the country and circling our nuclear ICBM facilities has a way of sort of bringing the threat close to home.”

•••

SCOTUS Takes Up Student Loan Forgiveness – Can six Republican-led states put the kibosh on President Biden’s student loan forgiveness program? The Supreme Court hears arguments for two hours Tuesday over whether the Education Department under Biden has authority to eliminate college student debt. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the White House program will cost $300 billion, NPR’s Nina Totenburg reports on Morning Edition.

Missouri, Nebraska, Arkansas, Kansas, South Carolina and Iowa have challenged the loan forgiveness program, which would offer up to $10,000 relief for students with family income of up to $125,000 annually, and up to $20,000 for low-income students.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

______________________________________

...meanwhile...

DOE Says COVID Likely from a Chinese Lab – The U.S. Energy Department now agrees with an FBI assessment that the COVID-19 pandemic was likely the result of a leak from a Chinese laboratory, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday, citing an update to a 2021 document by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. The classified report was provided to the White House and key members of Congress (the latter of which explains how the WSJ got it).

•••

NATO Deal to Offer Kyiv Arms for Peace Talks? – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has outlined a plan to give Ukraine “much broader access” to advanced military equipment, weapons and ammunition as an incentive for Kyiv reaching out to Moscow to begin peace talks, The Wall Street Journal reports. Germany and France have joined Britain in supporting the deal, which falls short of full-on NATO membership for Ukraine.

Sunak last Friday said such arms would give Ukraine a “decisive advantage,” including war planes, on the battlefield. But according to the WSJ, the developing deal masks growing private doubts among political leaders in the United Kingdom, France and Germany that Ukraine will be able to push Russian aggressors out of its eastern regions and Crimea, which Russia has controlled since 2014.

Upshot: This is a decidedly sober attitude from Europe’s lead NATO members, coming after a year in which Ukraine has fought a Russian army many thought would have captured Kyiv by March 2022, and deposed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who last week said his country will prevail and push out Russia by the end of this year.

This Week – Both the House and Senate are in session Monday through Wednesday. The Senate only is in session Thursday and Friday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

Brazil’s 1/6 on 1/8 -- Inspired by the January 6^th attack on the U.S. Capitol in support of Donald J. Trump’s Big Lie, thousands of supporters of Brazil’s far-right populist ex-President Jair Bolsonaro stormed the Congressional building, federal supreme court and presidential Panalto Palace in Brasilia (Semafor, NPR and AP) Sunday, demanding military intervention to return the government to the ex-president. Security forces have since regained control, says NPR’s Morning Editon. Leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva beat Bolsonaro for the presidency in a close runoff last October.

He’s Gone to Disney World!: Bolsonaro, who has long made claims of “election fraud,” much like ex-President Trump begun well prior to the 2020 U.S. election, did not attend da Silva’s inauguration, and has been in Orlando, Florida, since at least last December, Morning Edition reports.

•••

McCarthy’s Next Fight – Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) next battle was set to begin Monday night, as he faces potential opposition – this time from moderate Republicans -- against his rules package for the 118^th Congress. Reps. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) and Nancy Mace (R-SC) are concerned over the concessions McCarthy had to make to hard-right MAGA House Republicans in order to get the majority vote for the speakership, including gutting the Office of Congressional Ethics, NPR’s Morning Edition says.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Oath Keepers, Done – Trump Next?

By Ken Zino

Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, and Kelly Meggs, leader of the Florida chapter of the group, were found guilty by a jury on Tuesday of seditious conspiracy and other charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Their actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress that was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the presidential election,” the Justice Department said.

Three additional defendants, who were leaders and associates of the organization, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell, were found guilty of related felony charges. The verdict followed an eight-week trial and three days of deliberations.

No sentencing date was set. However, charges of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding, and tampering with documents or proceedings each carry a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

This, of course, begs the question about the ex-president who wanted to lead Oath Keepers that day after launching his Big Lie before the election and pushing it non-stop afterwards to overturn the legal results. The Big Lie was echoed by virtually the entire Republican party.

“Today the jury returned a verdict convicting all defendants of criminal conduct, including two Oath Keepers leaders for seditious conspiracy against the United States,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The Justice Department is committed to holding accountable those criminally responsible for the assault on our democracy on January 6, 2021. The prosecutors and agents on this case worked tirelessly, with extraordinary skill, and in the best traditions of the Department of Justice.”

No prevarication whatsoever that I can perceive in Garland’s statement.

Last words for the moment from the FBI: “As this case shows, breaking the law in an attempt to undermine the functioning of American democracy will not be tolerated,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI will always uphold the rights of all citizens who peacefully engage in First Amendment protected activities, but we and our partners will continue to hold accountable those who engaged in illegal acts regarding the January 6, 2021, siege on the U.S. Capitol.”

In the 22 months since Jan. 6, 2021, more than 900 individuals have been arrested in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol, including more than 275 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement.

“The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.”

Yes, ongoing, but if there was enough to convict Oath Keepers, seems that should be sufficient to indict Trump. Coming soon “The United States Versus Donald J. Trump.” J as in Justice?

_____________________________________

Left on Rhodes?

(TUE 11/29/22)

What do the guilty verdicts of Oath Keepers leaders Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs mean for future seditious conspiracy cases by the Justice Department? Watch this space for commentary by contributing pundit Ken Zino.

Click on The Gray Area to read Zino’s commentary on the Chinese intelligence officer recently convicted of espionage in the case involving General Electrics Aviation secrets.

Enter your own Comments in the box in this column or in the right column, or email us at editors@thehustings.news.

_____

…meanwhile…

(WED 11/16/22)

It’s Official: GOP Wins House – Republican Mike Garcia defeated Democratic challenger Christy Smith to win California’s 27^th District House seat Wednesday, the AP reports, to finally give the GOP the majority in the lower chamber it had expected to come much more easily a week earlier. Garcia’s victory puts the House count at 218 Republicans and 211 Democrats, per The New York Times, with six more seats to call.

Reddish Trickle: The GOP House margin, which will be anywhere from one to 14 seats -- though more likely between five and seven -- is good enough for the party’s first declared 2024 presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump. The jury was still out 24 hours after Trump’s Mar-a-Lago announcement on whether his fall from party leadership finally is over. Rupert Murdoch’s news empire is sticking to its guns so far – Sean Hannity even broke away from the drone of Trump’s “low energy” speech, and ABC News’ Jonathan Karl reported that Mar-a-Lago security had to keep several in the gaga-for-MAGA crowd from leaving his speech early.

Why would GOP leadership break up with Donald J. Trump this time, and not after three election losses – the House in 2018, the presidency and Senate in 2020 and essentially both chambers this year (and his only win was by electoral count, not popular vote) – as well as two impeachments, one insurrection, and an FBI seizure of top secret documents?

Consider that when Mitt Romney lost, miserably, in his bid to unseat President Obama in 2012, the GOP conducted an “autopsy” on the party’s apparent lack of popularity.

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in Florida’s winds, where Gov. Ron DeSantis offers the party sanctuary, and he won’t fly you on a chartered airplane to get there.

Meanwhile, McConnell Holds: SCOTUS- and federal court-crusher Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) won over his party’s caucus to remain minority leader, with 37 votes to Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) 10 votes. One Republican voted “present” in the secret ballot held in the Old Senate Chamber according to Politico, which adds that Scott sent out a memo during the vote accusing the outgoing National Republican Senatorial Committee, led by Indiana’s Todd Young, for distributing “hundreds of thousands of dollars of unauthorized and improper bonuses to staff.”

McConnell has been GOP leader for nearly 16 years, and when asked whether he might soon consider stepping down, he told reporters “I’m not going anywhere” (Politico again).

•••

Senate Moves to Codify Same-Sex Marriage – The Senate Wednesday passed a procedural provision, 62-37, to advance a same-sex marriage bill that could reach its final vote this week, per Roll Call. The bill would repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which was ruled largely unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in a 2013 decision. The bill “will not take away or alter any religious liberty,” said Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), chief negotiator and the first openly gay U.S. senator.

Among the 12 Republican senators voting to advance the bill was its primary GOP sponsor, Susan Collins, of Maine. It is the first among several bills the lame duck Congress will take up in a rush to beat the end of its 117^th session.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____________________________________

Trump Trumps, Again

(WED 11/16/22)

It’s 2015 again, with the fabulosity of Mar-a-Lago – where FBI agents seized top secret government documents just three months ago -- substituting for Trump Tower’s Golden Elevator. Some 20 minutes after beginning his speech – which came off sounding like a low-key MAGA-hat rally in which he described the magnificent success of his administration and the dismal failures of his successor -- Donald J. Trump announced his third bid for president of the United States.

“In order to make America great and glorious again tonight I am announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.” Though Trump did not conjure up his Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, he did suggest China had somehow meddled in the 2022 midterms. And the GOP did win the midterms thanks to Trump’s involvement, he suggested, but Republican leaders had overblown expectations they would win 40 House seats.

Trump threw in this statement, devoid of any irony or self-awareness: “This will not be my campaign. This will be our campaign.”

Biden on Strike on Poland: Before Trump in his very big announcement could blame on the current president a missile that struck Poland – he perversely suggested that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine had he still been in office – Biden spoke at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, telling reporters “there is preliminary information that contests that … it’s unlikely given the trajectory that it was launched from Russia.“ It has been identified as a Russian missile, however, and it killed two people in rural Poland. In discussions with Polish President Andrej Duda and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Biden says the U.S. has offered support to Poland’s investigation “and we need to determine exactly what happened.”

--Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Relief for Never-Trumpers

Wherever the final Republican-to-Democratic count in the House of Representatives ends up, there is a palpable sense of relief among never-Trumpers on the right as well as the left that voters overwhelmingly chose democracy over MAGA-authoritarianism in last Tuesday’s midterm elections. This extends to local and state races, with voters in swing states rejecting election deniers – followers of Donald J. Trump and his Big Lie – for secretary of state positions and other seats where they could have control over the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.

The MAGA election conspiracy boosters have “largely accepted their defeats,” Politico reports, with some “keeping quiet” and others conceding. Good news for American democracy, no matter which side you lean toward.

We’d like your thoughts on the midterm elections and what they mean, in the Comment box in this column or the right column – whichever is appropriate – or email editors@thehustings.news and please list your political persuasion on the subject line.

______

‘Big Lie’ Testimony from Thomas

False Claims – Virginia Thomas clung to false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chairman of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol, told reporters after the wife of the Supreme Court justice testified before the panel Thursday, the Associated Press reports.

Thomas answered some of the questions from investigators, who chiefly wanted to know about texts between her and alleged coup plotter attorney John Eastman in early January 2021, as she “sought to portray herself as among many Americans” who believe former President Trump’s Big Lie.

•••

Your Comments are welcome, whether you are left or right. If you consider yourself liberal, add your comments to the box in this column. If you are conservative, please go to the comment box in the right column. Or email editors@thehustings.news and tell us how you lean, politically, in the subject line.

--TL

_____

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 6^th 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.

_____

About the Timing

As the FBI receives heightened threats from the radical right over its search of Mar-a-Lago last week, liberal and never-Trump conservative pundits warn the serving of the warrant will inspire a heavy pro-MAGA vote in the midterms, and possibly boost Donald J. Trump’s own chances for the 2024 presidential election. But Democrat strategists also are hopeful that Trump will announce for ’24 this fall and re-invigorate the party’s own chances in the midterms.

Voice your opinions on which party gains most from the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, whether you are left or right, in the Comment box in the left or right columns, or email editors@thehustings.news. Be sure to read Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s take on the ex-prez’s use of his Florida estate as a repository for classified White House papers in the right column.

_____