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Repub Venality Open Thread: But Rod Rosenstein Had Only the *Best* Intentions!

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There is nobody within the Trump orbit who isn’t compromised. Another ‘with only the best intentions’ criminal steps forward in this week’s Friday night doc dump, per Politico:

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein authorized the release to the media of text messages between two highly placed FBI employees who exchanged criticism of then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, the Justice Department has revealed in a new court filing.

Rosenstein also said in the court filing submitted shortly before midnight Friday that he made the decision to share the messages with the press in part to protect FBI agent Peter Strzok and FBI attorney Lisa Page from the drip effect of incremental releases of the texts by lawmakers or others…

Strzok and Page filed separate lawsuits against the Justice Department last year, alleging that the release of their text messages violated the Privacy Act — an almost half-century-old statute that safeguards information federal agencies hold about private individuals.

Despite the litigation, until Friday it remained unclear just who at Justice gave the final OK to give about 375 Strzok-Page texts to journalists — including a POLITICO reporter — on the evening of December 12, 2017.

In a formal declaration submitted as part of the government’s defense to Strzok’s suit, Rosenstein owned up to being the one who made the call. He said he did so in part because the texts’ public release by members of Congress was inevitable in connection with testimony he was set to give to the House Judiciary Committee the following day…

Rosenstein, who stepped down from his position as Justice’s No. 2 official last May, said in his new submission that his aides initially suggested he might want to delay sending the texts to Congress until after his House testimony. But the veteran prosecutor said he concluded it would be “inappropriate” to hold them back, even briefly, for that reason…

While Rosenstein said the disclosure to the media was aimed at putting the messages in context, Strzok and Page have noted that the set of fewer than 400 texts sent to the Hill and shared with reporters that night was just a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of messages the pair exchanged on work topics as well as personal matters…

Rosenstein’s statement does not indicate whether he consulted with Page, Strzok or their attorneys to seek their views on the planned release, but he had them informed that night that the disclosure was forthcoming. The former DOJ No. 2 official said he did have one of his top aides confirm with Justice’s top privacy official that the disclosure would not run afoul of the Privacy Act…

Special Counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from his senior role on the Trump-Russia probe after learning of the texts in the summer of 2017. Page, who worked on the earlier stages of the investigation, had already moved on to another assignment.

The FBI fired Strzok in 2018, while Page ultimately resigned from the agency.

In a statement published last month by the Daily Beast, Rosenstein argued the Justice Department was not responsible for the criticism Page has endured. However, without getting into detail or directly challenging Trump, the former DOJ official said some of the attacks on her had gone too far…

Sure, I gave a known character assassin a powerful metaphorical gun, along with the names & addresses of a couple of tempting victims. But you can’t blame me for the fact that he killed them! I only did it to protect them!

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Repub Venality Open Thread: Money Changes Everything Memories

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Two weeks out from the 2016 elections, a first-time donor born in Ukraine lit up the map of the Republican Party with a $50,000 cash donation to Donald Trump’s joint fundraising committee.

By cutting just one check to Trump Victory Committee — well before he became a central figure in the impeachment of the president he helped elect — Lev Parnas left an indelible mark on two national and 20 state Republican entities.

Trump Victory subdivided his contribution into $33,400 for the Republican National Committee and $2,700 to Trump, the then-maximum allowable donations. The remainder went to GOP entities crisscrossing the country from New York to California, each receiving a modest sum of $661.90.

Official paperwork from the donation lists Parnas an employee of the Fraud Guarantee, the same company Parnas used to hire Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani in a relationship that has drawn scrutiny from federal prosecutors.

Three years later, down to the same month, the Justice Department on Oct. 10 unsealed an indictment of Parnas for using a straw donor and laundering foreign money into U.S. elections. Federal prosecutors claim he and his Fraud Guarantee co-owner, Igor Fruman, used the shell company Global Energy Producers to funnel $325,000 in foreign cash into America First Action, a Trump super-PAC.

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Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Chris Cillizza Will NOT Be Out-Jingo’d

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UpChuck Todd spends ten minutes of high-dollar Sunday tv time trying to gotcha Warren, but Chris ‘The Mad Bitcher’ Cillizza goes straight for ‘SHE SAID LONG WORDS WHICH IS ELITIST & PROBABLY UNAMERICAN’…

Chris just wants there to be a nice noisy horse race until the election, when he dearly hopes we will elect whichever Repub daddy eventually gets shoved to the top of the ticket.

Let’s all keep in mind how good it will feel when The Mad Bitcher has a public breakdown as the Democrats celebrate our new president, come November!

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Repub Venality Open Thread: It’s Not Even “Quality” BS, These Days

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When the highest-ranked elected official they can find to feed the right-wing puke funnel is someone “whose history of inflammatory social media posts has made him Internet infamous”… well, I guess the GOP Galaxy Brains are busy looking for reasons not to replace the Oval Office Occupant…

ETA:
Four out of ten Repubs are lying (at least to themselves)…

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Cold Grey Pre-Dawn Open Thread: Nope, Joe Biden Is (Still) Not A White Supremacist

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I’d like to believe this particular calumny will be obsolete by morning, but I suspect it’s actually a warning that 2020 is gonna be even dumber than 2019…

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Repub Stupidity Open Thread: Daft Days

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My teenage brothers and their friends used to challenge each other to stunts like mooning drivers on the Major Deegan Expressway from an extremely rickety overpass. But they were teenagers, and mostly working on imagined future careers as alcoholics. They expected to be ‘rewarded’, if caught, with a smack upside the head — the stupid stunting was bonding over their self-professed goals of being public losers. They weren’t highly-educated professional political operatives.

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Young Idiots & Their Enablers Open Thread: Circle Gaming

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We… are… SPARTANS! (But the no-homo kind, okay?)

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Respite Open Thread: You Deserve Some Ducks

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I can’t think of a better way to finish up before the holiday season, than with some ducks for you. (Although, I may have a Christmas Eve Menu for you later today, depending on how the house cleaning goes).

The weather has been beautiful the last few days, so I’ve left the patio door open so the cats could spend some time in the backyard. Meanwhile, I’m trying to work. But an open patio door leads to these constant interruptions:

Ducks are not quiet…and there are always duck rumblings in my backyard.

A friend and I are going to start a dedicated Youtube channel for the ducks. She wants to do some graphic art with the ducks. so there may be merchandise, Just waiting for my GoPro to arrive. Because they HATE cameras and my only chance of catching their antics is via stealth.

Here they are, complaining,  after 22 inches of snow was dumped on us Thanksgiving week.

Respite Open Thread: 1

That was after they had to spend a full day literally cooped up, until it was warm enough for them to venture out. And yes, I had to shovel a path and a roosting spot for them. Otherwise, all you’d see would be the little tops of their heads as they scooted through the duck-deep snow.

Respite Open Thread: 2

Bonus Christmas Kitteh:

Respite Open Thread:

It’s his favorite spot this holiday.

I have all my cooking done and have vowed not to venture out again after seeing my clients today and picking up a forgotten item at the grocery store. Had a sweet surprise this morning, one of my oldest clients, who I have worked with since long before Bixby, bought me a nice gift, BUT also went to a boutique pet store and bought beautiful leather toys, and baked goods for the pups. He laughed as he handed the bag to me and said, “I realized as I walked through the store, I had no idea what to buy dogs.” I thought, Great Danes are even tougher to buy for, but he did great and Bixby and Scout love them.

It was the sweetest thing. Buying my pets presents will always win me over.

How are you coping with the holidays? I know it can be a tough time. Last year was the worst for me, but this year, I’m feeling more hopeful. Maybe it’s that nice gift Congress got me.

Check-in in the comments, we’re all in this together.

Otherwise, open thread

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BREAKING: Impeachment Vote Postponed Till Morning

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BROKEN: The entire Republican Party…

For once, I have to whole-heartedly agree with a Never Trumper.

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Impeachment Open Thread: Our Failed Republican Party

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And its Very Woke enablers…

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‘Tales of Thrilling Adventure’ Open Thread: Chris ‘Mad Bitcher’ Cillizza & His Talking Points of Derpitude

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<em>‘Tales of Thrilling Adventure’</em> Open Thread: Chris ‘Mad Bitcher’ Cillizza & His Talking Points of DerpitudePost + Comments (12)

‘Season of Giving’ Open Thread: Spare A Thought for the Locally-Grown, Artisanal Bigots & Hypocrites

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The multinational big-box kleptocrats, with the Oval Office Occupant as their spokesthing, are making it impossible for the traditional regional hatemongers to get the earned media (free publicity) they rely upon to survive!

Take, for instance, newly-minted reparative-justice advocate and unindicted insurance-fraud Republican Darrel Issa:


“If the soulless legislative middle managers are gonna keep a stand-up guy like Duncan Hunter from voting with us, just because he’s pled guilty to robbing wounded veterans to pay for his golf fees, cigar bars, and at least five extramarital liaisons with lobbyists and staffers… who’s gonna be left to accuse the Democrats of immorality and lawlessness? (ME!, that’s who)”

… In August, Issa announced that he had launched an exploratory committee to consider a potential bid for Hunter’s seat, which prompted him to withdraw his nomination by Trump for a trade post.

The Union-Tribune noted that unlike other challengers running for Hunter’s seat, Issa has not criticized the embattled Republican congressman.

On Thursday, the House Ethics Committee urged Hunter to “refrain from voting on any question at a meeting of the House or of the Committee of the Whole House,” citing a House rule regarding convicted lawmakers…

Not to mention the sad status of favorite blog chewtoy Little Prince Rand, who can’t get any front-page MSM attention for the kind of puke-funnel performance that used to be worth thousands from his donors / voters…

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George Zimmerman Strives to Out Asshole POTUS

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Man, fuck this guy:

George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, but according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Florida, he believes there was a conspiracy to frame him and wants $100 million in damages.

Attorney Larry Klayman announced the lawsuit in tandem with a Coral Gables screening of a documentary titled “The Trayvon Martin Hoax,” which has since been canceled. Zimmerman was scheduled to appear alongside Klayman at a Thursday news conference, but hours later, Klayman said the news conference was canceled, too.

The chief allegation in the lawsuit is that civil rights attorney Ben Crump helped to swap out a reluctant witness, Brittany Diamond Eugene, for her half-sister, Rachel Jeantel, and helped prepare her to deliver a script intended to land Zimmerman in prison for the 17-year-old’s killing on February 26, 2012. Crump began representing Trayvon’s parents starting February 28, 2012, the lawsuit says.

First off, HOW THE FUCK DO YOU FRAME SOMEONE FOR MURDER WHEN THEY CLAIMED SELF DEFENSE?

Second, fuck this guy. Guy murdered a kid for being black in Zimmerman’s neighborhood while he was playing cosplay cop, got away with it, then auctioned off the gun he used to execute the kid for 150 grand, and then followed that up by being a general scumbag and public menace all while profiting off his art work.

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Lisa Page is done being quiet

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I understand the argument when people say Trump isn’t the worst president ever — or even the worst this century. In terms of body count through pointless military actions and the number of lives ruined through financial malfeasance and mismanagement, Trump doesn’t come close to George W. Bush (yet).

But Trump is in a class by himself in his willingness to recklessly gin up rage against entire groups of people and tell outrageous lies that endanger individuals. He eagerly and often does both for political gain, to get himself off the hook or to paint himself as less sleazy by comparison to others. It’s grotesque and repellent, and, as far as I know, it’s unmatched in US history. In this way, Trump has exposed countless people to crackpots and mobs and has caused death and mayhem, though not at scale…so far.

Two of his favorite targets are former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and agent Peter Strzok. Trump defames them not because they engaged in official misconduct (investigations turned up indiscreet behavior but nothing illegal) but rather because they were critical of Trump in text exchanges, which Trump latched onto as evidence of a “deep state” conspiracy. Trump has relentlessly mocked the two and called for their jailing, just like the tinpot authoritarian he aspires to be.

Trump’s behavior toward Page and Strzok is particularly disgusting to me because they aren’t public figures. The way he leers about “lovely Lisa” and lingers over the word “lovers” when talking about Page and Strzok at his hate rallies is grotesque because no one deserves to have their private business publicly mocked by a foul, degenerate hypocrite like Trump. (It’s also jarring to me because I once found it impossible to imagine Trump using the word “lovers” outside the context of a food order in which it immediately follows the word “meat.”)

Anyway, after remaining silent and hoping in vain that Trump would move on, Page has had enough of the shitgibbon’s shit, as she says in an interview with Molly Jong-Fast in The Daily Beast. Here’s an excerpt where Jong-Fast describes why Page decided to speak out:

I asked her why she was willing to talk now. “Honestly, his demeaning fake orgasm was really the straw that broke the camel’s back,” she says. The president called out her name as he acted out an orgasm in front of thousands of people at a Minneapolis rally on Oct. 11, 2019.

Ugh. That’s just so many shades of fucking cringe.

I hope Ms. Page gets some measure of relief from breaking her silence and highlighting the many ways Trump and his nasty sycophants have subverted our federal law enforcement institutions. The whole interview is worth a read.

Open thread.

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Sunday Pharisees Open Thread: The New Failson Falkirk Center

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Jerry Jr. (last seen defending himself against charges of real estate fraud, self-dealing, misappropriation of funds from the university he inherited, and nightclubbing in Miami Beach) has gotten together with Charlie Kirk (founder of TP-USA, last seen bulk-buying failson Trump Jr’s ‘best seller’) have a new grift, per the Washington Examiner:

Growing concerns in conservative circles that liberals are trying to convert young Christians into socialists by distorting the Bible and U.S. Constitution have prompted Virginia’s Liberty University to form a new center to push back on the media, academics, and Democratic politicians.

The new think tank, announced Saturday in Lynchburg and previewed to Secrets, was co-founded by two key leaders in the Christian youth movement, Liberty President Jerry Falwell Jr. and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

The Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty, a combination of their names, will “play offense” against efforts by liberals to water down Judeo-Christian values in the Bible and Constitution in their bid to build support for big government, said Kirk.

“The fastest-growing religion in America is atheism and secularism and with that is the rise of leftism and statism and, as people veer away from the church and veer away from the Judeo Christian values that built our country, people are more likely to embrace statism,” he said in an interview…

It will operate under a 501(c)(3) charter and is owned by Liberty.

The plan to go on offense is similar to how President Trump operates, and it’s no coincidence that both Falwell and Kirk are leading defenders of the president.

Kirk, who stressed that it was an “honor” to work with Falwell in the bid to “organize an army of believers in faith and liberty,” said he expects to be attacked as he and Liberty’s president have for their support for Trump…

“If you want to be loved today as a political conservative, go against the president. You’ll get the best press you could ever possibly imagine. But if you want to stand for what’s right, if you want to stand for truth, defend our country, then you have to stand behind this president,” said Kirk, who has been accompanying Donald Trump Jr. during his book tour to colleges and universities to promote Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us.

All the failsons gotta hang together, it’s both natural affinity and a defense against their (many, legitimate) enemies.

That Jesus dude notoriously condemned religious profiteering, promoted multiculturalism and sharing material goods across the community, and gave away free food and healthcare. (Also, He preferred hanging with his group of fellow believers to getting an honest job, and when one of the overworked women of the movement asked for a little help in the kitchen, slanged her off for not properly valuing the worth of intellectual labor.) So: Signs point to YES!

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