Lindsey Graham's Turnabout

 

Senator Lindsey Graham explains why he is prepared to jettison his unconditional pledge not to act upon a Trump Supreme Court nomination in the year before election. He was so pissed off at how Democratic senators treated Brett Kavanaugh that he no longer feels bound by his commitment.
In other words, Sen. Graham places personal pique above personal integrity, principle and national interest.

Battle Over Court Seat

The Republican attempt to distinguish between their stonewalling of President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, nearly a year before the 2016 presidential election and their announced intention to race through the confirmation of whom ever President Trump may nominate while the current election is in progress, is shameful and ludicrous.

The only real difference is that senate Republicans had the votes to block Judge Garland and now believe they have the votes to reinforce the conservative majority on the Court while Trump is still in office.
Whatever happened to their oft repeated mantra, "let the People decide "?

Justice Dept. Steps In to Aid Trump

 By unleashing Justice Department lawyers to defend Donald Trump, accused of defaming the woman who alleges he raped her, Attorney- General William Barr continues to burnish his reputation as Mr. Trump's Roy Cohn. Moving the case from state to federal court is a transparent maneuver to cloak Mr. Trump with federal immunity and further delay a trial beyond election.

These legal tactics can only be justified if Mr. Trump's misconduct falls within the scope of his official duties. The notion that a sitting president is fulfilling presidential duties when he attempts to escape the consequences of pre-presidential wrongdoing, by falsely branding his accuser as a liar, is beyond comprehension and without legal foundation.

Hopefully, the federal judge to whom the transferred case is assigned will make short shrift of this blatant misuse of the legal system, return the case to state court and prevent the Justice Department from acting as Mr. Trump's personal defenders.

Trump Solicits Election Fraud

Once again President Trump has committed a crime in plain sight. Apparently, in an attempt to demonstrate that voting by mail will result in a fraudulent election, Mr. Trump has urged voters in North Carolina to vote by mail and then cast an in-person ballot  in the same upcoming presidential election. If the voter can get away with it, the President counsels, it will prove that the election is rigged.
As one might suspect, voting twice in the same election is a crime. One who invites or encourages such an unlawful act is, himself, guilty of the crime of criminal solicitation. Mr. Trump continues to adhere to the notion that he is above the law. When confronted with the fact of his transgression expect him to claim that he was only joking. And don’t expect Attorney-General William Barr to initiate any enforcement. Mr. Barr acts only to investigate those he perceives to be the President’s enemies and to assist the President’s cohorts.

Flynn Case Sent Back to Sentencing Judge

 Fortunately, the full bench of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, has overturned a 2 to 1 ruling of the three judge panel which had directed the trial judge in the Michael Flynn case to accede to AG Barr’s suspect motion to dismiss the case against the confessed felon without inquiry into the government’s motivation for its unprecedented turnabout.

One of the two dissenting judges, recent Trump appointee Neomi Rao, questions how the prosecution can proceed without a prosecutor. Judge Rao is patently mistaken. The Flynn prosecution ended with his admission, under oath, acknowledging his guilt. The final stage of the proceeding is entirely in the hands of the judge. The only role left for the prosecutor is to make a recommendation as to sentence.
Judge Sullivan may ultimately feel constrained to accept the DOJ’s motion to dismiss. But he will, at least, have an opportunity to probe publicly the justification for Mr. Barr’s politically driven maneuver and be able to question the distorted factual basis offered in support thereof.

Republican Convention Breaks the Law

 

Donald Trump strode into the room in the White House, past the full dress marines who saluted and ceremoniously opened the large wooden doors giving access to the gold-trimmed carpet, so that the President could confer US citizenship on five carefully chosen candidates in an astoundingly discordant charade completely at odds with Mr. Trump’s true position on immigration.
The President’s regal entry immediately brought to mind the image often shown of Vladimir Putin following the identical spectacle before proceeding to a podium. Obviously, Mr. Trump has adopted Putin’s Tsar-like fanfare and, undoubtedly, would like also to emulate his role model’s autocratic grip on executive power.

Report of the Senate Intelligence Committee

 

The  claims of a "Russia Hoax", promoted by Donald Trump, AG William Barr and various Fox News agitators, and their continuing assault on the findings and bona fides of the Mueller Report, have now been debunked by the extensive findings contained in a voluminous bipartisan report of the Republican controlled Senate Intelligence Committee. After a wide-ranging, long-term inquiry conducted in a bi-partisan manner by the members and staff of that Committee, it has been established that Russia interfered broadly in the 2016 presidential election to promote the candidacy of Mr. Trump and that persons involved in Mr. Trump's campaign welcomed this foreign intrusion and had numerous meetings with persons identified as being Russian intelligence operatives. It was only because of a lack of evidence proving a conspiracy (i.e. an agreement between the Russians and the Trump people to act in coordination with one another) that the charge of collusion could not formally be brought.
One might expect that the Committee's findings would put to rest the baseless and politically driven assertions that Trump was the victim of Deep State spying and a conspiracy to deny or oust him from his deserved presidency. Don't count on it. You can be sure that Trump and his minions will turn on the Committee, including its Republican majority, and denounce its report as the fake findings of never- Trumpers who are colluding with Democrats, the FBI and everyone else in the world who fails to appreciate the President's genius, honesty and historical achievements.