Tag: QAnon

Griner Released in Swap

WNBA star Brittney Griner, detained August 4 at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and later charged with possession of cannabis, has been freed from a Russian penal colony in an apparent prisoner swap with the U.S., and is on her way home, NPR reports. 

“Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner,” President Biden announced in a tweet (above, with Griner’s wife, Cherelle Griner and with Vice President Harris in the left photo). “She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home.”

Griner is being swapped in a one-on-one for “notorious arms dealer” Viktor Bout, who has been held in a U.S. prison for 12 years, the BBC reports. The U.S State Department continues to negotiate for release of Paul Whelan, businessman and former Marine who has been held in a Russian prison for nearly four years. 

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German Government Contains its January 6 – German authorities arrested 25 people, including neo-Nazis and monarchists, suspected of planning to overthrow the government by storming the Bundestag in Berlin, Wednesday morning. Allegedly fueled by QAnon conspiracy theories, among those detained include “Prince Heinrich XIII”, a descendant of the German nobility that was abolished by the Weimar Republic after World War I, and active soldier and former members of police and elite special forces, The New York Times reports. A group known as the Reich Citizens Movement has pushed for reinstatement of the German monarchy for years. 

NPR reporter Esme Nicholson describe on All Things Considered those detained as “not angry young men with shaved heads and black boots” but as doctors, lawyers and teachers – reminiscent of many of the 900+ arrested for the January 6 Capitol insurrection, including Yale Law School graduate and Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes III, who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy last month. 

Organizers of the movement apparently contacted Vladimir Putin ahead of the attempted coup, but there is no indication the Russian president responded.

Meanwhile, in SCOTUS: The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday heard arguments over the “Independent State Legislature” theory, a controversial neo-republican (small “r” intended doctrine that would give individual state legislatures the right to set “all manner of election rules and laws without review by state courts,” according to NPR’s Nina Totenburg.

The case, brought to the highest court by North Carolina Republican legislators seeks to strike down a North Carolina ruling that the legislators violated the state’s Constitution with an “extreme partisan gerrymander” after the 2020 U.S. Census.

At its extreme, Totenburg said on All Things Considered, a ruling in favor of the theory and against the South Carolina Supreme Court could “eliminate not just state judicial powers over elections, but governors’ vetos. … and it might allow state legislators to certify electors who were not approved by the voters.” 

Sound Familiar?: That part about allowing state legislators to certify electors is what ex-President Trump attempted after his 2020 election loss. 

Court Count: SCOTUS is split into three camps, according to Totenburg: Justices Clarence Thomas, Thomas Alito and Neil Gorsuch, who favor the Independent State Legislature Theory; Justices Sonya Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, who oppose it; and Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavenaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, who are somewhere in the middle. 

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

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. 

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…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. 

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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

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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.

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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

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...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

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news