
How does a man with no credibility provide credibility to an investigation that starts off with no credibility?
Courtesy of TPM:
Attorney General Bill Barr on Monday defended the criminal probe into the origins of the 2016 Russian investigation — a probe that is under fire for appearing to be geared toward validating conspiracy theories — and said FBI Director Chris Wray has lent “outstanding” support to John Durham, the U.S. attorney ostensibly leading the ongoing investigation.
Barr claimed in the interview that Durham was “in charge” of the probe. The probe started last spring as an administrative review of how the Russian election meddling investigation was launched, but has since evolved into a criminal investigation, the New York Times reported last week.
It’s unclear what alleged crimes are being investigated. The timing of the leak to the New York Times that the probe was now criminal prompted speculation that the news was being put out to counteract last week’s cascade of damaging revelations in the House’s impeachment inquiry.
Barr on Monday pointed to Durham’s leadership to push back on the criticism the ongoing probe has attracted.
Durham is a “by the book” kind of guy, Barr said, who has a “great reputation for nonpartisanship” and was previously selected by attorneys general in Democratic administration to lead “sensitive investigations.”
“As I understand, he is making great progress,” Barr told Fox News, later adding that he was “confident” the Durham will “get to the bottom of things.”
“We’ll let the chips fall where they may,” he said.
So here’s the thing about Barr defending an investigation by claiming that the guy behind the investigation is some kind of by the book professional over flowing with integrity, that is the same argument that many made about him before he entered Trump’s orbit.
And clearly that was all bullshit.
What we have seen in the past are people with integrity pulled into Trump’s orbit, who either flame out early and tumble back to earth or become assimilated and turn to the dark side with the rabid fervor of a Manson family member.
We have already seen Trump and his minions attempting to force other foreign leaders to manufacture evidence to smear his political opponents or undermine the Russia investigation, so why would we not expect more of the same from Bill Barr and his flunkies?
I don’t know much of anything about John Durham but if Barr is betting that his mere participation will protect the investigation from criticism while also ensuring that it will reach the conclusions which please his boss, then he has either badly miscalculated who Durham is or the fix is already in.
O/T: Gryph! Another has had enough. GREAT news for my state!
Oregon GOP Rep. Greg Walden announced Monday that he would retire when his current term ends in January 2021 — becoming the 21st Republican lawmaker to say they were not seeking re-election since the 2018 midterms.
https://nypost.com/2019/10/28/oregon-gop-lawmaker-quits-following-trend-of-republicans-stepping-down/
READ IT: Opening statement by Ukraine expert who was on the call with Trump and Zelensky
Monday evening, The New York Times reported on the expected testimony of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman.
On Tuesday, Vindman is scheduled to testify before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
His entire opening, published below, was posted by Politico (PDF).
https://static.politico.com/69/13/cdffb8a4420a8a4d8a65439570f2/vindman-statement-final.pdf
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/read-it-opening-statement-by-ukraine-expert-who-was-on-the-call-with-trump-and-zelensky/
Ambassador McFaul reveals the three questions Congress should ask Lt Colonel Alexander Vindman
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/ambassador-mcfaul-reveals-the-three-questions-congress-should-as-lt-colonel-alexander-vindman/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killian_documents_authenticity_issues
“There has been speculation that the ellipses in the rough transcript of the call may be hiding incriminating information.”
https://variety.com/2015/film/news/truth-movie-dan-rather-mary-mapes-1201617239/
The investigative reporter who got the Bush reporting started was Walter V. Robinson. The team that followed up was the Boston paper’s investigative outfit, Spotlight, including reporters Michael Rezendes and Sacha Pfeiffer. Less than two years earlier, the same group had uncovered widespread child molestation and a cover-up of abusive priests by the Catholic Church.
https://www.politicususa.com/2019/10/28/top-wh-official-plans-to-drop-explosive-testimony-that-will-shred-trumps-impeachment-defense.html
BREAKING: White House Official to Testify He Was So Alarmed by Trump Ukraine Call He Reported It to a Superior
https://www.mediaite.com/news/breaking-white-house-official-to-reportedly-testify-he-was-so-alarmed-by-trump-call-he-reported-it-to-a-superior/
https://www.rawstory.com/2019/10/lt-colonel-alexander-vindman-is-the-kind-of-witness-that-prosecutors-dream-about-mimi-rocah/
Trump loaded the bases with sell out assholes like Barr because he knew in time he could count on him. I bet Putin also taught Trump this underhanded tactic.
He refers to Gorsucks and Boof Kavanaughty as “*MY* judges.”
And let’s face it, they are.
They will remain a black eye on our Democracy (and our Republic) for decades. They will be the shitstain that paints Moscow Mitch’s legacy FOREVER.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-judges-lawsuits_n_5db1d70ee4b03285e87ba2fd
“Trump believes in a purely transactional version of life. If he scratches your back ― or appoints you to the Supreme Court ― you are expected to return the favor. He calls his judicial appointees “my judges,” and has referred to judges appointed by his predecessor as “Obama judges.” It’s a label Chief Justice John Roberts and other judges have pushed back against.
Trump’s supporters, however, have explicitly stated that the fights to appoint Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh were fought specifically to install friendly judges on the high court in order to insulate the president from oversight.”
Really? And that makes it OK?
““[W]e’ll see whether or not the Kavanaugh fight was worth it,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said about a possible Supreme Court case to decide whether Congress can acquire Trump’s tax returns.”
“Rao, appointed by Trump in 2019, was the lone dissent in a 2-1 decision affirming a subpoena issued by the House Oversight and Reform Committee to the president’s accountant. She argued in her dissent that Congress could only investigate presidential misbehavior by launching an impeachment inquiry. This would overturn decades of Supreme Court precedent and make it practically impossible for Congress to do oversight of the executive branch or gather information to enact legislation.
Rao is said to be on Trump’s shortlist for the next available Supreme Court appointment.”
More than ever it is essential that there be no more openings on the Supreme Court and that a Democratic president be elected in 2020.
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https://www.huffpost.com/entry/justin-walker-not-qualified-federal-judge-senate-confirms_n_5db20895e4b0bc7f96fe4dc1
“Senate Republicans voted Thursday to confirm Justin Walker to a lifetime seat on a federal court, despite the fact that he earned a rare and embarrassing “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association.
Every Republican present voted to put Walker, 37, onto the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.”
Yeah, you guessed.
““Mr. Walker’s experience to date has a very substantial gap, namely the absence of any significant trial experience,” the ABA found. “Mr. Walker has never tried a case as lead or co-counsel, whether civil or criminal. … In addition, based on review of his biographical information and conversations with Mr. Walker, it was challenging to determine how much of his ten years since graduation from law school has been spent in the practice of law.”
So why did Walker get nominated? Because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) wanted him to. He recommended Walker to the White House.
“This is unquestionably the most outstanding nomination that I’ve ever recommended to Presidents to serve on the bench in Kentucky,” McConnell tweeted in July, just a day after the ABA issued its rating of Walker’s qualifications.”
We need to get rid of Moscow Mitch too, either through Democrats being a majority in the Senate or McConnell losing his seat outright. Both would be preferable.
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“Two and a half years in, what stands out about Trump’s confirmed judges isn’t just the quantity, which is remarkable ― two Supreme Court justices, a record-breaking 43 appeals court judges and 99 district court judges.
It’s that a chunk of his judges shouldn’t be on the bench at all because they aren’t qualified or they’re so ideologically extreme that it’s next to impossible to imagine them as fair arbiters of justice. These judges are now on federal courts at every level, from the Supreme Court to appeals courts, which have the final say in nearly all federal cases, down to district courts, where these cases are first filed. For the appeals court judges in particular, the decisions these people make will affect you and millions of other people for generations.
“It is important for the public to appreciate that appeals court appointees serve on courts that are the courts of last resort for 99.9% of cases in their regions of the U.S. on issues like capital punishment, abortion, same-sex marriage, immigration, etc.,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor and an expert on federal judicial nominations. “The key is they resolve 50,000 cases per year and the Supreme Court resolves 100.””
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-courts-judges-abortion-lgbtq-voting-rights_n_5d669025e4b063c341f8fdc9
“Judge Neomi Rao on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Blamed women for date rape
Rao published a series of inflammatory articles on sexual assault, race and LGBTQ rights as a Yale University student. “A good way to avoid a potential date rape is to stay reasonably sober,” she wrote, adding that if a woman drinks to the point where she cannot choose if she wants to have sex, “getting to that point was part of her choice.” Rao also denounced “special treatment for minority students” and called the fight for LGBTQ rights a “trendy political movement.” Every Senate Republican voted to confirm her.”
Yeah, *THAT* Rao. The one on the shortlist for the next SCOTUS vacancy. UNQUALIFIED for her current position.