So some idiot at Redstate is making the argument that the Comey Memos were leaked in contravention of the law: The documents leaked by Comey were official government records. Period. They were created by a government employee (Comey) while acting in his official capacity (FBI director) on a government-issued laptop while sitting in a government car driven by another government … Read More
Infographic: How Impeachment Works
Put a pin in this for future reference:
How Britain Voted
It’s a hung parliament folks. PM Theresa May thought she had more conservative support, called for a snap election, and was unable to find a conservative majority, thanks largely to large amounts of young voters going Labour, and the decline of smaller parties. What is going to happen? With the blessing of the Queen, it looks like the Conservative Party … Read More
Meanwhile, Republicans Are Giving America Back To Wall Street
Republicans in the House of Representatives passed the Choice Act yesterday, a sweeping deregulation of the financial sector. It passed 233-186, with no Democratic support. One Republican, Walter Jones of North Carolina, voted no. This bill rolls back or weakens most of the protections put in place since the 2008 financial crisis through President Barack Obama’s Dodd-Frank Act. Though it … Read More
Did Comey Break The Law By Revealing His Memo Contents To The Press?
No, and in fact, if Trump goes after Comey for dong that, Trump could get in deeper trouble. Here’s why: As the news broke, I was on the phone with Stephen Kohn, partner at a law firm focused on whistleblower protection. We’d been talking about where the boundaries lay for Comey in what he could and couldn’t do with the … Read More
Not To Be Forgotten
One of the most telling and damaging points Comey made was that even after being informed there was absolutely no doubt Russia had mounted a huge effort to interfere with and undermine the credibility of the US election process, Donald Trump never even asked what was being done to prevent further interference by Russia. He was completely incurious about how … Read More
Happy Comey Day
Well, we already know in essence what Comey will testify about, since we have his written statement (which has been dissected to death). I don’t expect a lot of “news” but maybe so more fleshing out. It will be in sharp contrast to yesterday, where two intelligence chiefs repeatedly refused to say whether Trump asked them to intervene in the … Read More
Breaking: Full Text of Comey Prepared Remarks Tomorrow
Chairman Burr, Ranking Member Warner, Members of the Committee. Thank you for inviting me to appear before you today. I was asked to testify today to describe for you my interactions with President-Elect and President Trump on subjects that I understand are of interest to you. I have not included every detail from my conversations with the President, but, to … Read More
Previewing Comey’s Big Testimony On Thursday
Former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony Thursday to the Senate Intelligence Committee promises to be one of the most highly anticipated congressional appearances in years. Indeed, for a comparable high-stakes hearing, you have to go back to 2015, when Hillary Clinton testified before the House Benghazi Committee. Or 1991, when Anita Hill testified in Clarence Thomas’ Supreme Court confirmation hearing. … Read More
Trump’s Tweets Today Are The Most Unhinged And SELF-Destructive (And It’s Only 10:00 AM)
God knows why they just don’t take his phone away. Or give him a fake phone with a fake Twitter account. This is how bad it has gotten: Trump’s own advisers have gone on television and stated that Trump’s tweets are not his policy. Well, who knows? How can we tell? Would Trump agree with that? Even this morning, Kellyanne … Read More
Trump To Drop US From Paris Accords
It looked for a moment like he was reconsidering this campaign promise to leave the Paris Accord on climate change, but no. In a few minutes, Trump will announce from the Rose Garden that the US is out. Celebratory mood in the White House Rose Garden for Paris announcement. A jazz band is playing. pic.twitter.com/Ohm5EYJNnT — Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) June … Read More
CREW and The Emoluments Case
Back in January, I wrote about a lawsuit brought against Donald Trump, filed by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) which sought a declaratory judgment that Donald Trump, having not divested himself of his hotels in DC, is in violations of the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution. As I wrote back then, one of the problems for … Read More
The “Unmasking” Diversion
Over at Fox News, they use the word “unmasking” a lot. To me, it looks like they haven’t realized it is a common practice in the intelligence community. They just use the word a lot so that their low-information viewers will think it is bad. “Unmasking”, of course, is the process whereby a redacted name of an American citizen is … Read More
To These Guys Everything Is A Partisan Conspiracy Against Their Perfect Great Idea
To these guys everything is a partisan, somebody else to blame conspiracy against their perfect, great idea: It’s become the knee-jerk reaction for Republicans, in light of an ugly Congressional Budget Office analysis of their Obamacare repeal bill, to point the finger at the non-partisan research agency instead. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney took it a step further … Read More