Daily Archives: March 18, 2022

The media have been quick to rubbish Attorney General Merrick GarlandMerrick GarlandGOP senators seek probe of 'egregious' conditions at NJ nursing home The post-Trump era has begun Biden signs reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act MORE for his failure so far to indict former President TrumpDonald TrumpGOP talking point could turn to Biden's 'underwhelming' Russia response House Oversight Committee opens investigation into New Mexico 2020 election audit Hunter Biden paid off tax liability amid ongoing grand jury investigation: report MORE over the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. They have tarred him with epithets worthy of Trump himself, such as Merrick the Mild and Merrick the Meek. And a host of former prosecutors and law professors have criticized his inaction, saying that Garland needs to indict Trump to vindicate the rule of law.

We dont know for certain, but it appears that Garlands Justice Department has yet to convene a grand jury to investigate the affair. Were they subpoenaing witnesses before the grand jury, we would have heard something about it from reporters hanging around the court house or from the witnesses lawyers.

Justice appears to be riding the coattails of the House select committee, which has served a flurry of subpoenas, and has already referred two recalcitrant witnesses, Stephen Bannon and Mark MeadowsMark MeadowsNC investigators open probe into Mark Meadows voter registration Is Merrick Garland finally ready to indict Donald Trump? Jan. 6 panel subpoenas Trump campaign adviser Cleta Mitchell, five others MORE, to Justice for criminal prosecution only to see Bannon indicted for a misdemeanor and Meadows so far uncharged some fourscore and seven days after the criminal reference.

The case against Meadows is a simple one, and the long delay is vexing. It is possible that Justice is using the time to investigate, but this seems unlikely in light of the Doric simplicity of the facts. Meadows refused to testify. Full stop. It is also possible that Justice had decided not to indict Meadows for contempt of Congress; but then, why the silence? If they had let Meadows know he was off the hook, he would have loudly told the press about how he was exonerated. Finally, it is possible that the government and Meadows are crafting a deal, some testimony in exchange for no indictment. Time will certainly tell us the answer.

Garland has vowed to follow the law and the facts wherever they may lead him. But many legal observers have concluded he is timid and overly cautious, fearful that we appear to be a banana republic indicting, and possibly jailing, our former leaders because they are now politically out of favor. Of course, the total answer is that we look like a banana republic if we dont hold our former leaders accountable for the serious crimes they may have committed, such as sedition, incitement to insurrection or conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Frustrated at the inaction, the redoubtable Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe has called on Garland to appoint a special counsel. Tribe argues that a special counsel is the best way to reassure the country that no one is above the law, justice is nonpartisan and fears of political fallout will not determine the decision on whether to bring charges. Tribe says that such an appointment is imperative.

Appointment of a special counsel would give Garland some political cover, even though a special counsel is not institutionally independent of the Justice Department. Yet, so far, Tribes urgent clarion call has fallen on deaf ears.

Trumps strategy of course is to run out the clock. With the midterm elections less than eight months off, and a widely expected outcome that Republicans will take the House, the select committee investigating Jan. 6 may be on its last legs.

Yet, as the man said, it isnt over til its over. Only recently, there have been unmistakable signs and portents that the inquiry into the events of Jan. 6 may have brought Trump to his Watergate moment. The most notable events in recent days are as follows:

If Reffitt receives a stiff sentence, and Tarrio is convicted, they may be incentivized to cooperate with the government as did Oath Keepers member Joshua James, who is cooperating as part of a guilty plea for obstructing an official proceeding of Congress, and for seditious conspiracy culminating in the Jan. 6 attack. Such testimony of co-conspirators could provide evidence supporting broader conspiracy charges against Trump or his closest associates.

As the Washington Post concluded in its article reporting the Reffitt verdict: "The notion that Attorney General Merrick Garland is slow-walking charges against Trump or has decided not to go after him is inconsistent with the departments actions to date. Garland might just be warming up to take on the man whose refusal to accept defeat resulted in the most lethal armed insurrection since the Civil War."

As Trump signaled to the Proud Boys in his September 2020 debate with Biden, stand back and stand by. Garland may not be shooting so many blanks as his critics claim.

James D. Zirin is a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York.

Read more here:

Is Merrick Garland finally ready to indict Donald Trump? | TheHill - The Hill

Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Michael Flynn and the other leaders of the American neofascist movement are very generous, in their own sinister fashion. They make their escalating threats of right-wing violence, insurrection and other forms of mayhem in public. There is little skulduggery or subterfuge involved.

Why are they so bold? Because they have suffered no serious long-term negative consequences for their behavior. And for the most part, the Republican fascists and the larger white right are winning in their war against American democracy. Momentum is on their side. Why should they conceal their intentions?

When disaster follows be it some version of Jan. 6 (which is almost inevitable) or other acts of right-wing terror the American people and their leaders will not be able to claim ignorance. They have repeatedly been warned and have chosen to ignore those warnings.

RELATED:In the coming second American Civil War, which side are you on?

Last Saturday at a rally in Florence, South Carolina, Donald Trump continued with his threats of white supremacist violence. He suggested that his political cult members should enter into a lethal blood pact and fight an existential battle against the phantasm of "critical race theory" as proof of their loyalty:

Getting critical race theory out of our schools is not just a matter of values, it's also a matter of national survival. We have no choice. The fate of any nation ultimately depends upon the willingness of its citizens to lay down and they must do this lay down their very lives to defend their country. If we allow the Marxists and communists and socialists to teach our children to hate America, there will be no one left to defend our flag or protect our great country or its freedom.

Trump's commands are part of a larger pattern of behavior. At recent rallies in Arizona and Texas, he made similar hints at a "race war", and other appeals to fascist violence. Histhreats are becoming ever clearer and less veiled: His suggestion that his followers must be willing to die in order to stop the imaginary threat of "critical race theory" almost directly echo the infamous neo-Nazi "14 words" slogan and pledge.

How did the American mainstream news media respond to Trump's most recent white supremacist threats of violence and "race war"? For the most part, theyignored it. If an obligatory comment was offered about Trump's hate rally in South Carolina, it was derisive. Those reporters who did write about Trump's speech defaulted to obsolescent and dangerous habits of "horse race" political journalism, or whitewashing Trump's speech by focusing on "policy issues" or his signals that he is likely to run for president again in 2024. Such an approach normalizes, and therefore empowers, Trumpism and neofascism.

America's mainstream news media and larger political class continue to demonstrate that they are unwilling to respond to the escalating threats posed by the Trump movement and the larger white right.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser and U.S. Army general turned coup plotter, spoke last weekend at a "ReAwaken America" event in Southern California that brought together election-fraud truthers, QAnon adherents and other conspiracy theorists. He also threatened violence against educators who resist the Republican moral panic over"critical race theory":

We need you to charge the machine gun nest. Maybe I'm just asking you to dig a little bit deeper there or hold this side of the line, or form up cause we're gonna counterattack over here, and that counterattack is, we're gonna go after school boards.

Flynn's summoning of violence was not random hyperbole: He was an intelligence officer and is a trained expert in psy-ops, propaganda and manipulation.

Ron Filipkowski, a former federal prosecutor and an expert on right-wing extremism, was among the first people to sound the alarm about Flynn's recent comments. He offered further context in an email to Salon:

Flynn's general message is that there is a global cabal that runs the world, which is controlled by elites who want to erode national sovereignty. The supposed global elites use the media, universities and other institutions to manipulate and control the population. Part of these claims is that there is a "deep state" of career civil servants and government officials who really run things and that elected officials do not.

I am most concerned with supervisor of elections and secretary of state races. These officials in swing states, most of whom were establishment Republicans, refused to go along with the Big Lie and did their duty in 2020. That is why it is a high priority for Trump, Flynn, Bannon and others to replace them. These are low profile and low dollar races that can be won with far less effort than others. These are also races that the GOP is intensely focused on and the Democrats are not. If election fraud conspiracy theorists take over the offices that run and administer our elections, coupled with all the new "voter fraud" legislation, that would be a huge threat to the survival of our democracy.

As with Trump, the mainstream news media was largely mute in response to Flynn's comments.

In the Age of Trump and beyond, the Republican fascists' tactics of stochastic terrorism in combination with increasingly overt and direct threats of political violence against Democrats, liberals, Black and brown people and other targeted "enemy" groups have proven highly effective. TheCapitol attack of January 2021 was a direct result of these tactics.

Domestic terrorism and other law enforcement experts are warning that right-wing extremists have been empowered by events such as Jan. 6, and continue to be a great (and growing) threat to the country's safety and security.The Department of Homeland Security has warned of an increased likelihood of right-wing terrorism and other political violence during the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential election.

Election board members and other public officials, particularly including school board members, find themselves under siege by threats of violence and intimidation. Public opinion and other research has shown that millions of Trump supporters are willing to support political violence and terrorism in order to "save" their notion of "traditional" America.

In recent interview at the Washington Post, political scientistBarbara Walter, an expert on civil wars and political violence, discussed the escalating threats America now faces:

There are definitely lots of groups on the far right who want war. They are preparing for war. And not talking about it does not make us safer.

What we're heading toward is an insurgency, which is a form of a civil war. That is the 21st-century version of a civil war, especially in countries with powerful governments and powerful militaries, which is what the United States is. And it makes sense. An insurgency tends to be much more decentralized, often fought by multiple groups. Sometimes they're actually competing with each other. Sometimes they coordinate their behavior. They use unconventional tactics. They target infrastructure. They target civilians. They use domestic terror and guerrilla warfare. Hit-and-run raids and bombs.

We've already seen this in other countries with powerful militaries, right? The IRA took on the British government. Hamas has taken on the Israeli government. These are two of the most powerful militaries in the world. And they fought for decades. And in the case of Hamas I think we could see a third intifada. And they pursue a similar strategy.

Here it's called leaderless resistance. And that method of how to defeat a powerful government like the United States is outlined in what people are calling the bible of the far right: "The Turner Diaries," which is this fictitious account of a civil war against the U.S. government. It lays out how you do this. And one of the things it says is,Do not engage the U.S. military. You know, avoid it at all costs. Go directly to targets around the country that are difficult to defend and disperse yourselves so it's hard for the government to identify you and infiltrate you and eliminate you entirely.

Walter continued by explaining that she was not surprised by the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and that in fact her "biggest emotion was just relief":

It was just, Oh my gosh, this is agift. Because it's bringing it out into the public eye in the most obvious way. And the result has to be that we can't deny or ignore that we have a problem. Because it's right there before us. And what has been surprising, actually, is how hard the Republican Party has worked to continue to deny it and to create this smokescreen and in many respects, how effective that's been, at least among their supporters. Wow: Even the most public act of insurrection, probably a treasonous act that 10, 20 years ago would have just cut to the heart of every American, there are still real attempts to deny it. But it was a gift because it brought this cancer ... out into the open.

The American political class, most of the news media and other elites remain committed to denial and happy-talk fables about the dire realities now facing the country. That applies to most of the public as well. But because of their experience with slavery, Jim and Jane Crow and other forms of white supremacy and fascist violence, Black Americans as well as others who have suffered under power know to take these threats seriously.

In a previous essay at Salon, I warned that the fascist train is bearing down on the American people and that too many of them have convinced themselves that if they ignore the danger, they will somehow magically escape the destruction. Many white Americans in particular believe, consciously or otherwise, that white privilege (or their class, their gender or their religion) will protect them from the fascist onslaught. That is a massive and potentially fatal error of both assumption and inference. American fascism is being powered by white privilege in its most lethal form, but ultimately it will spare no one, of any race or color.

Read more on the rising threat of political violence in America:

More:

Donald Trump, Michael Flynn call for violence they're not kidding, but the media doesn't care - Salon

Donald Trump made it clear how he felt about the media during his time in the White House. He capitalized the term "fake news" and often used it to describe anyone who disagreed with him (via CNN). "It is amazing what's happening to the discredited media like CNN, MSDNC, New York Times, and Washington Post," Trump said in an August 2021 statement. "Their businesses have dropped off a cliff, which is actually a very good thing for the American people, because they are Fake News (likewise the networks, ABC, NBC, CBS)."

There are a few networks he didn't consider to be fake news, though, and one of them was the conservative-leaning One America News (OAN). According toThe Independent, Trump released a statement shared through his son's Twitter account that called for protests against Time Warner Cable and DirecTV, who both chose to drop the network from its services.

"Between heavily indebted Time Warner, and Radical Left Comcast, which runs Xfinity, there is a virtual monopoly on news, thereby making what you hear from the LameStream Media largely FAKE, hence the name FAKE NEWS," Trump's statement read. "It is a very popular channel, far more popular than most would understand, and they are being treated horribly by the Radical Left lunatics running the networks."

His statement concluded with him saying, "Instead of being allowed to grow, their voice is being shuttered. Don't let it happen, cancel DirecTV. If you feel infringed by what this Communist movement is doing, cancel DirecTV!"

Read the original:

Donald Trump Is Seeing Red Over This Cancellation - The List

Donald Trump Jr. has suggested sending his father to Europe to meet with NATO leaders to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine instead of President Joe Biden.

The former president's eldest son claimed that having Biden speak to European leaders at a NATO summit in Brussels on March 24 would "embolden our enemies further."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed on Tuesday that Biden will meet face-to-face with his European counterparts in the Belgium capital. He will also attend a scheduled European Council summit to discuss imposing further sanctions against Russia and provide further humanitarian support to those affected by the conflict, which is entering its third week.

"Sending Biden to Europe for 'High Stakes' NATO talks will only embolden our enemies further," Trump Jr. tweeted.

"If you want to get something done right send Trump."

Trump Jr.'s tweet arrived after his father appeared to attempt to revise history regarding his relationship with NATO.

Before he entered office, Trump described NATO as "obsolete" and threatened to withdraw the U.S. from the coalition while president if more countries didn't meet the minimum spending requirements of 2 percent of GDP.

In 2019, The New York Times reported that Trump discussed pulling the U.S. out of NATO, a move that would have emboldened Russia and Vladimir Putin. According to the report, Trump considered the military alliance a financial drain and was unhappy with the other countries that failed to meet the spending targets he had set.

Retired Adm. James G. Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO, told The Times pulling out of the Western alliance, which has been a deterrent of Russian aggression since the fall of the Soviet Union, would be "a geopolitical mistake of epic proportions."

"Even discussing the idea of leaving NATOlet alone actually doing sowould be the gift of the century for Putin," Stavridis said.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump attempted to claim credit for the continuation of the alliance and the military support being given to the country being attacked by Russia.

"I hope everyone is able to remember that it was me, as President of the United States, that got delinquent NATO members to start paying their dues, which amounted to hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump said in a February 28 statement.

"Also, it was me that got Ukraine the very effective anti-tank busters (Javelins) when the previous Administration was sending blankets."

It was noted at the time that Trump threatened to withhold weapons from Ukraine in a 2019 phone call with Volodymyr Zelensky where he was accused of attempting to pressure the Ukrainian president to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, ahead of ahead of the 2020 election, which lead to Trump's first impeachment.

Recently, Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton told The Washington Post that he believed the former president would have pulled the U.S. out of NATO had he won reelection in 2020, and that Putin was "waiting" for him to do that.

In another interview with SiriusXM's Julie Mason, Bolton added that the U.S. would be in "a lot worse shape" had Trump followed through with his threats to withdraw from NATO.

"I think one of the reasons that Putin did not move during Trump's term in office was [that] he saw the president's hostility with NATO...and to Putin's mind, it's a binary proposition: A weaker NATO is stronger Russia," Bolton said.

"So I think Putin saw Trump doing a lot of his work for him and thought, maybe in a second term, Trump would make good on his desire to get out of NATO, and then it would just ease Putin's path just that much more."

In a tweet ahead of the "extraordinary" summit on March 24, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said: "We will address Russia's invasion of Ukraine, our strong support for Ukraine, and further strengthening NATO's deterrence & defense.

"At this critical time, North America & Europe must continue to stand together."

The White House has been contacted for comment.

Original post:

Donald Trump Jr. Wants His Father To Attend NATO Summit Instead of Biden - Newsweek

Donald Trump had a notoriously close relationship with Vladimir Putin during his time in office as US president, with the American even labelling the Russian president as a friend, however he now has revealed just why Putin invaded Ukraine.

Trump has been roundly criticised for his public admiration of Putin, but he really doesn't seem to mind as long as his own base continues to laud his every move.

"He wants to rebuild the Soviet Union," Trump told Jeanine Pirro in a radio interview with Fox News.

"They had a country, you could see it was a country where there was a lot of love and, you know, we're doing it because someone wants to make their country bigger or wants to rebuild back to the way it used to be when it wasn't really working too well."

Trump continued to describe Putin as a person with a big ego, who would do 'unspeakable things' if he continues to feel cornered by Ukrainian resistance and Western sanctions.

See more here:

Donald Trump reveals the reason why Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine - Marca English

President Donald Trump meets with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Tuesday, June 20, 2017.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Donald Trump asked if US troops were in Ukraine in 2017 at a meeting with then-President Poroshenko.

The revelation was made in a new book by former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch.

"It was disconcerting that he did not seem to know where we had our troops deployed," she wrote.

President Donald Trump asked whether US troops were in Ukraine during an Oval Office meeting with then Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in 2017, according to a new book by former US ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, seen by The Guardian.

At the meeting, Trump asked his national security adviser HR McMaster if US troops were in Donbas, a territory in Ukraine claimed by Russian-backed separatists.

"An affirmative answer to that question would have meant that the United States was in a shooting war with Russia," Yovanovitch wrote in the book, according to The Guardian.

"It was disconcerting that he did not seem to know where we had our troops his troops deployed. I could only imagine what the Ukrainians were thinking."

In the same meeting, Trump also told Poroshenko that Ukraine "was a corrupt country, which he knew because a Ukrainian friend at Mar-a-Lago had told him," Yovanovitch wrote in the book, according to The Guardian.

She also claims Trump said, "Crimea was Russian, as the locals spoke Russian."

Russia invaded and annexed the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea in 2014 in a move widely condemned by the international community.

Yovanovitch said that others in the meeting "kept a poker face on" as then-President Trump made the cringe-worthy comments.

The former ambassador describes the meeting in her upcoming book, "Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir."

She served as US ambassador to Ukraine until she was removed from her post by Trump in 2019, amid his attempts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival Joe Biden by withholding military aid. The scandal ultimately led to Trump's first impeachment.

Story continues

Yovanovitch writes in the book that she had the impression that "Trump had come into the meeting viewing Ukraine as a 'loser' country, smaller and weaker than Russia."

She added that "Trump's obsequiousness toward [Russian President Vladimir] Putin was a frequent and continuing cause for concern."

However, she wrote that Trump was surprised by Poroshenko, who was "as physically imposing as Trump" and "a billionaire businessman."

The revelations from Yovanovitch's book come weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military invasion of Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Trump has continued to praise Putin for being "smart" and described his justification for invading Ukraine as "savvy" and "genius."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Continued here:

Former US ambassador describes the awkward moment Donald Trump thought US troops were in Ukraine during a meeting with its president in 2017 - Yahoo...

While speaking with the Nelk Boys for their podcast, "Full Send," former President Donald Trump received an expensive gift from one of the Nelk Boys. According to TMZ, the Nelk Boys' SteveWillDoIt, also known by his real name, Stephen Deleonardis, gave Trump an ice blue platinum Day-Date 40mm Rolex, worth a staggering $75,000. This particular model of the Rolex watch is actually not sold in stores, which means that SteveWillDoIt had to place a custom order to craft Trump's gift. SteveWillDoIt claimed that he felt the need to give Trump a gift after selling $500,000 worth of t-shirts featuring his face alongside Trump's face.

Just hours after uploading the podcast on YouTube, the platform removed the video for violating its misinformation policy, which was likely sparked by Trump's claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. After his interview with the Nelk Boys was taken down, Trump released a statement through his Save America PAC, citing this incident as proof that American censorship is becoming similar to Russian censorship. "Whatever happened to free speech in our Country? Incredibly, but not surprisingly, the Big Tech lunatics have taken down my interview with the very popular NELK Boys so that nobody can watch it or in any way listen to it," Trump said in a statement, per the New York Post.

See the rest here:

Donald Trump Just Received A Massive Gift That Is Sure To Turn Heads - The List