What's the Nutjob Going to Do Before January 20?

[GoCubsGo]

And it's not a unique or quirky concept. Thirty other countries have it also.

White supremacist to the bitter end.

Trump set on veto of defense bill over renaming bases honoring Confederates

He really wants to burn down the house.

[Vrede too]

He really wants to burn down the house.

And the people in it:

Trump order could spark mass firings of civil servants, lawmakers warn

[neoplacebo]

The cult rally in PA yesterday was a transparent effort to have the PA electors replaced with cult member electors. What a world.

[Vrede too]

Preemptive pardons, possibly including himself.

Not that it took an Einstein to make the guess.

Trump reportedly discussed possibly pardoning his 3 eldest children, Jared Kushner, and personal attorney Rudy Giuliani with advisors

[GoCubsGo]

Preemptive pardons, possibly including himself.

Not that it took an Einstein to make the guess.

Trump reportedly discussed possibly pardoning his 3 eldest children, Jared Kushner, and personal attorney Rudy Giuliani with advisors

[GoCubsGo]

I guess it's a little bit of good news that he's checked out.

Trump reportedly tells Pompeo that he can do anything he wants in Iran bar ‘World War III’

[Vrede too]

I guess it's a little bit of good news that he's checked out.

Trump reportedly tells Pompeo that he can do anything he wants in Iran bar ‘World War III’

Hey Mikey, a presidential pardon does not extend to international war crimes tribunals.


Trump is offering pardons 'like Christmas gifts' to people who don't even want them, according to a report



Speaking of pardons:

Judge dismisses Flynn case following pardon from Trump

... The order from U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan was expected in light of the pardon from President Donald Trump that wiped away Flynn's conviction for lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation. Sullivan acknowledged in his 43-page order that the president's broad pardon powers required dismissal and that the decision to pardon him is a political, rather than legal, one.

But he also stressed that a pardon, by itself, did not mean that Flynn was innocent of a crime he had twice pleaded guilty to committing. He dismissed as “dubious to say the least” the Justice Department's stated rationales for seeking to drop the case — a request that was still pending at the time the pardon was issued — and noted the president's own personal interest in this case.

“The history of the Constitution, its structure, and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the pardon power make clear that President Trump’s decision to pardon Mr. Flynn is a political decision, not a legal one," he wrote. "Because the law recognizes the President’s political power to pardon, the appropriate course is to dismiss this case as moot."

However, he added, “a pardon does not necessarily render ‘innocent’ a defendant of any alleged violation of the law. Indeed, the Supreme Court has recognized that the acceptance of a pardon implies a ‘confession’ of guilt.” ...

Thank you for your service, Judge Sullivan, you stood for America and the rule of law as long as possible. Just remember, Pizzagate Flynn got fired by 45SHOLE, who is himself on the way out of govt, while you are still a US Judge.

Speaking of Pizzagate Flynn:

Michael Flynn Goes Full QAnon in His Post-Pardon Media Tour

Former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn called into a QAnon conspiracy theory podcast on Friday, but said that he could only speak for a few minutes. He had a surprising reason to cut the call short, he explained. He was avoiding assassins and had to stay on the move.

“I gotta make sure I’m a moving target, because these sons-of-a-guns, they’re after me, in a literal and a figurative sense,” Flynn said.

Normally, a former top administration official claiming he believes he’s being tailed by “deep state” hitmen would set off alarms. But it fits perfectly with Flynn’s post-pardon media tour, which has seen the retired lieutenant general positioning himself to reap the rewards of his position as the chief martyr of Trumpworld....

QAnon podcasts have been a key part of Flynn’s outreach after evading his federal charge. On Dec. 2, Flynn appeared on the QAnon-affiliated “Bards of War” podcast, which is run by a man who would issue cryptic QAnon-style about the deep state. Flynn declared that the United States was on the brink of a socialist takeover.

Since then, he’s continued to toss red meat at the QAnon base, which is premised on the idea of a military purge of the Democratic Party and other Trump foes, endorsing a call on Twitter for Trump to institute martial law and prevent President-elect Joe Biden from taking office....

[GoCubsGo]

How the hell did this asshat become a lieutenant general in the army?

Very scary.

[neoplacebo]

How the hell did this asshat become a lieutenant general in the army?

Very scary.

Politics plays little role in one's advancement in military rank. What matters most is what assignments one has had, how well one performed in those assignments, what post graduate level courses and schools one has completed or attended, length of time in military service, and individual ranking within your present rank. Curtis LeMay was another nutjob general.....a four star of the Air Force stripe but just as crazy as Flynn. As long as one doesn't get caught having sex with a subordinate in any way or doesn't get caught being drunk on duty or in public or be in command when something crazy and stupid happens (like numerous Army soldiers being murdered or disappearing at Ft Hood) or in the case of the Navy, as long as you don't crash your ship, run it aground, or pull into Guam and call time out due to concern for the health of your crew, it's actually pretty hard to NOT get promoted.

[GoCubsGo]

[Vrede too]

More on Powell: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4266&p=131241#p131241

The Trump administration is mulling immunity for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed, who is accused of sending a hit squad to kill an exiled spy chief

President Donald Trump's administration is deciding whether to offer immunity to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was accused in a US federal court of trying to kill an exiled spy chief, The Washington Post reported Monday.

In August, Saad al-Jabri, who spent decades at the top of the Saudi Interior Ministry, sued Crown Prince Mohammed in a federal court in Washington, DC, claiming a hit squad was sent to kill him in Toronto, Canada, in October 2018.

Canadian border agents denied entry to the hit squad, known as the "Tiger Squad Defendants," the complaint said....

Al-Jabri's son Khalid, a cardiologist who lives in Canada, told The Post that offering immunity to Crown Prince Mohammed would be akin to sanctioning murder.

"If granted, the US would essentially be granting MBS immunity for conduct that succeeded in killing Jamal Khashoggi and failed to kill my dad," he said, using a popular acronym for Crown Prince Mohammed.

Khashoggi, a US resident and writer for The Washington Post, was murdered in Istanbul, Turkey, on October 2, 2018. The CIA has concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed likely ordered the killing....

Not that I'm any kind of fan of a Saudi ex-spy chief, but fuck MBS, too.

[neoplacebo]

I don't know about anyone else, but I have no interest in another Saudi bone saw massacre. Unless Jared is the victim. Besides, MBS is about as likely to appear in and be convicted in a US court as those Russian GRU guys the US indicted a few years ago. But then again, trump never lets a chance to be an asshole go to waste.

[Vrede too]

Trump issues flurry of pardons, commutations

President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a flurry of pardons and commutations to a slew of controversial figures with ties to his administration, in a move that further cements his legacy of exercising his sweeping powers to benefit his political allies.

Among the list of individuals pardoned Tuesday are George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller; Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins, both former Republican congressmen convicted of financial crimes; and four former Blackwater Worldwide military contractors responsible for the shooting deaths of 14 Iraqis in 2007.

In total, the president issued 15 pardons and commuted part or all of the sentences of five individuals.

These latest executive actions, issued in the waning weeks of Trump's White House tenure, contribute to an already sizeable list of close aides who have benefitted from his pardon authority -- a group that already includes Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, and Roger Stone, his longtime friend and political adviser....

[GoCubsGo]

Trump issues flurry of pardons, commutations

President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a flurry of pardons and commutations to a slew of controversial figures with ties to his administration, in a move that further cements his legacy of exercising his sweeping powers to benefit his political allies.

Among the list of individuals pardoned Tuesday are George Papadopoulos, a former Trump campaign aide indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller; Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins, both former Republican congressmen convicted of financial crimes; and four former Blackwater Worldwide military contractors responsible for the shooting deaths of 14 Iraqis in 2007.

In total, the president issued 15 pardons and commuted part or all of the sentences of five individuals.

These latest executive actions, issued in the waning weeks of Trump's White House tenure, contribute to an already sizeable list of close aides who have benefitted from his pardon authority -- a group that already includes Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, and Roger Stone, his longtime friend and political adviser....

Shit, that was just the shot across the bow. Javanka, Rudy, Mannafort and himself are just a few to come,

[neoplacebo]

Manafort may not make it; earlier this year he won appeal of his case on the issue of being charged with the same offense by feds AND the state of NY. So if trump pardons him for his federal convictions he may still be able to be charged, tried, and convicted on the same charge by NY.

[Vrede too]

The Blackwater guards Trump pardoned were jailed for a massacre of civilians, including 2 kids



The 15 people President Trump pardoned Tuesday evening include the first two congressmen who endorsed him for president — former Reps. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) and Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), both convicted of financial crimes — two people jailed in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, and four private guards working for Blackwater who were serving long sentences for an unprovoked and unnecessary 2007 massacre of civilians in Baghdad's Nisour Square that left 17 Iraqis dead, including two boys, ages 8 and 11.

Blackwater, since sold and renamed Academi, is a private military contractor outfit headed at the time by Erik Prince, brother to Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos. The Nisour Square massacre marked a low point in U.S.-Iraqi relations after the 2003 U.S. invasion, and federal prosecutors spent years bringing the four Blackwater guards — Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard — to justice.

After a federal judge in 2009 dismissed the first murder and manslaughter convictions of the Blackwater contractors, ruling the evidence was tainted, then-Vice President Joe Biden said at a press conference in Baghdad that the men had not been acquitted and the U.S. would appeal the decision. "In subsequent years, as the case continued, the contractors became known in conservative media as the 'Biden Four,'" The Washington Post reports. Slatten was eventually sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder, while the other three were convicted of manslaughter and given sentences of 12 to 15 years....

Impeached and unelected POSPOTUS loves war criminals.

[neoplacebo]

The cult gushes in awe/

[Vrede too]

Shit, that was just the shot across the bow. Javanka, Rudy, Mannafort and himself are just a few to come.

Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Charles Kushner among those pardoned by Trump

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a second batch of pardons in as many days, this time forgiving the crimes of two former associates, Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, as well as Charles Kushner, the father of Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner.

The latest list grants 26 full pardons and commutes all or part of the sentence of three additional individuals, after Trump on Tuesday issued 15 pardons and five commutations.

Wednesday's list also includes several people recommended by former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was part of Trump's impeachment defense team, and Ike Perlmutter, the former CEO of Marvel Entertainment and a member of the president's private Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to a statement from the White House....

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a frequent critic of the Trump administration, accused the president on Tuesday night of "doling out pardons, not on the basis of repentance, restitution or the interests of justice, but to reward his friends and political allies."

Manafort may not make it; earlier this year he won appeal of his case on the issue of being charged with the same offense by feds AND the state of NY. So if trump pardons him for his federal convictions he may still be able to be charged, tried, and convicted on the same charge by NY.

... Manafort, however, still faces the possibility of fraud charges in New York. Following Wednesday's pardon, Manhattan District Attorney spokesperson Danny Frost told ABC News, "This action underscores the urgent need to hold Mr. Manafort accountable for his crimes against the People of New York as alleged in our indictment, and we will continue to pursue our appellate remedies."

Veteran GOP political operative Roger Stone -- a decades-long friend and former campaign adviser to Donald Trump -- had his 40-month prison sentence commuted in July by the president, days before he was scheduled to report to a federal penitentiary. The self-described political "dirty trickster" was charged and convicted on a seven-count indictment of obstructing justice, witness tampering and multiple counts of lying to Congress in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump's full pardon nullifies Stone's conviction entirely....

Former California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter's ex-wife Margaret cooperated with the U.S. Attorney's office in the prosecution of her husband on charges that he misused $250,000 in campaign donations for personal expenses such as family vacations and oral surgeries. Hunter, who was sentenced to 11 months in prison in March, was pardoned by Trump on Tuesday....

Jesse Benton is a Kentucky political operative who married into the family of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and was convicted in 2016 on charges tied to campaign finance violations. Benton and an associate, John Tate, were involved in an effort to pay bribes to an Iowa state senator in exchange for the lawmaker's endorsement for Ron Paul's 2012 presidential bid. Both men were handed a six-month home confinement and two years of probation. Tate was also pardoned on Wednesday.

Next?

[GoCubsGo]

Well, on the upside is the actions he is taking certainly don't seem like something one would do if they thought they'd be in the oval office on January 21.

[Vrede too]

Well, on the upside is the actions he is taking certainly don't seem like something one would do if they thought they'd be in the oval office on January 21.

Somewhat. The timing certainly suggests it, but the nutjob might have done it even if he won. He's not rational and he would never be campaigning again, anyhow.

A Brief Reminder Of Charles Kushner's Creepy Crimes, Through Tweets

...

This would be okay with me:

Almost No Democrats Are Calling On Trump To Pardon Edward Snowden
Many progressive lawmakers have pushed reforms based on Snowden’s leaks, which makes their silence about a potential pardon that much more curious.

... Trump said in August that he was going to “start looking at” the idea of pardoning Snowden.

The most concerted, public effort to push Trump toward pardoning Snowden has come from a handful of conservative lawmakers. Three Republican members of Congress and one Republican-turned-independent encouraged Trump on Dec. 12 to pardon Snowden.

The appeals on Twitter from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Justin Amash (I-Mich.) were part of a coordinated initiative by surveillance critics on the right to leverage Trump’s hostility toward the intelligence agencies, which he calls the “deep state,” to exempt Snowden from prosecution for revealing the extent of the NSA’s spying programs on American citizens.

But thus far, outgoing Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is the only Democratic member of Congress to call on Trump to pardon Snowden. And some civil liberties advocates are disappointed....

“I’m not going to sit in judgment on pending criminal charges, though I certainly don’t think there should be a double standard where defenders of particular programs can leak classified information and get off scot-free, while critics of those programs go to prison,” (OR Sen Ron) Wyden said.

“Mass surveillance was never going to end until the public found out about it, and in fact, after The Guardian and Snowden revealed dragnet government surveillance, Congress ended that unconstitutional program,” he continued. “That’s why I spent years urging the Bush and Obama administrations to be straight with the American people and why I’m continuing the long fight to protect Americans’ rights.”

... There are, of course, many outspoken opponents of pardoning Snowden in the still-dominant, hawkish wing of the Republican Party, from Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) to Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.)....

Glenn Greenwald, an independent journalist who first published Snowden’s leaked documents and is an outspoken advocate for his pardon, accused Democrats of being more protective of national security leakers like Daniel Ellsberg who reveal classified information during Republican administrations than of Snowden, who acted while Barack Obama was president.

“This is a test of principle over partisanship, and Democrats are woefully failing it,” Greenwald said.

One reason that progressive Democrats have traditionally been vigilant about federal government snooping is the frequency with which such tactics have been used to undermine social movements associated with the left. The FBI spied not only on more radical elements of the Black civil rights, antiwar and Puerto Rican independence movements in the 1960s and 1970s, but also on mainstream figures like Martin Luther King Jr., infamously using evidence of King’s adultery to encourage his death by suicide.

This legacy, and the more recent, bipartisan fight to allow the expiration of the key Patriot Act provisions, should make pardoning Snowden a progressive cause, according to Greenwald and some other civil liberties activists....

Some progressives have called for Democrats to prioritize the pardoning of Reality Winner, a former NSA translator who is serving a five-year prison sentence for leaking official documents showing that Russia tried to interfere with voting systems in 2016. Unlike Winner, Snowden lives freely with his wife in Moscow, where the Russian government continues to provide him with asylum. (Contrary to some people’s misconceptions, Snowden is a critic of the Russian government who sought protection there as a last resort.)...