Hopefully he isn’t given the reality winner treatment. It is a matter of national security after all.
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Nothing on the Internet is hidden from everybody : - )
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No disagreement here. That said, I reject any assertion that the laws on the book are the best laws we could possibly have.
The members of the Underground Railroad were heroes. If America doesn’t become the world’s largest 19th-century factory town, we’ll have similar reverence for everyone who stepped out of line to help defeat our oppressors.
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And I hazily recall . . . something . … well, anyway, something that would damn sure have me looking at that issue on Westlaw first if I was in that situation.
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Well, yeah… despite the fawning over St. Michael of Avenatti (and Future President!!) that went on here and on similar political blogs for months, I think at this point that St. Michael has established at minimum that he’s occasionally not too bright, and definitely suffers from an excess of hubris and what psychoanalysts sometimes call the Icarus complex.
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The Great Lie: “Dulce et Decorum est. Pro patria mori.” It is grand and glorious to die for your country.
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Strangely, people embraced someone who stood up to Trump at a time when the majority of our media and government was kowtowing.
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Thanks for your legal insight. Though I’m curious whether its fair to assume he would have been aware that he wasn’t revealing “government fraud, abuse, or illegality” at the time he leaked. My understanding is he grew alarmed and leaked this story because he did believe he was exposing a coverup in the making. Obviously he couldn’t know for sure and had to be aware he was taking on risk with potentially devastating personal consequences if his suspicions turned out to be wrong like what happened here. Had he been right, wouldn’t he be afforded some measure of whistleblower protection?
I guess the moral of the story is, if you leak you better be sure the legitimacy of your claim is rock solid and be ready to do the time in case you’re wrong. I still have sympathy for him because I believe he thought he was doing the right thing and the nebulous protocol regarding the visibility of sensitive SARS reports during investigations misled him to believe there was a coverup. If he had clarity on rules of how and why sensitive reports would be missing, or it was just noted in the database that it was being protected in a current investigation, this all could have been avoided.
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I sense a pattern here. In order to preserve the impartial credentials of the prosecution authorities in the face of mass Republican criminality, the authorities are going hard on leakers disclosing information about Republican criminality. This is the third such case, if we include the scandalous imprisonment of Reality Winner. Meanwhile, again in the name of partiality, Republican leakers seem to be getting a free pass. Nunes and his staff clearly disclosed confidential information, and let’s not talk about the president and his cronies.
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It’s interesting that Avenatti after having exposed Cohen and brought Stormy to the front of the battle thought he’d be suitable presidential material because he was on cable TV a ridiculous number of times talking about these matters. He announced he’d be running, and 15 minutes later his time was up.
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Consider that Avenatti made a lot of appearances on cable TV telling us again and again about the great job he was doing revealing the sins of Cohen and trumpp. He announced after having been on TV a lot he was considering running for president. That would have been another empty resume like moron’s. How’s that for hubris.
“Not a very bright analyst.” Maybe he’s just willing to take the heat.
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My take on it is that he was making exactly that point: I, Michael Avenatti, am as qualified to be president as is that orange dotard defendant.
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Turns out they embraced the wrong guy, eh? Which ought to be a proverbial word to the wise, if wise they indeed are. The fact that someone is doing something you like is not a reason to turn off your spidey senses.
We sure look great for embracing this guy now, don’t we?
“Tell mother I did it for my country.”
I’m willing to consider that Avenatti’s “announcement” was entirely tongue-in-cheek and meant as satire against Individual 1, but I fear that’s giving him a little too much credit. This is the guy who reportedly hid millions from bankruptcy court in a case concerning his firm. Not a good look, especially for, ahem, an “officer of the court.” @meri
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and @ncsteve
Agree with you both. The problem was that the Trump DOJ was not going to investigate the SARs. I also think that if Fry had limited sharing the SARs with journalists, to bring the DOJ’s inaction to light, that would have been one thing. Avenatti used them as a bludgeon publicity stunt, and in his bizarre attempt to intervene in the Cohen criminal case. I am not going to look it up, but I think there is some ethical issue about lawyers using the threat of informing law enforcement as a strong arm tactic in civil damages litigation.
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True. The reports were made to the government. The question was whether they would be acted on rather than placed in a file and forget category.
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If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
– Wilfred Owen
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Can we donate to his defense, somehow? I got $50 here if he wants it.