Originally published at: Russ Vought Takes a New Path Toward Overriding Congress - TPM – Talking Points Memo
Programming Note I’ve been gone for two days! I forgot to say on Thursday’s edition that I’d be taking a long weekend to hike Mount Marcy, New York’s highest peak, with friends. More on that further down. For now, I’m back, and pretty much here through the election. Which is in … just 35 days.…
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Thank you for the explanation of The Brief’s absence! You had an excellent reason.
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And now, back to our show.
This TV program needs new writers - it’s the same plot lines every day: how to dismantle the US government without really trying.
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Lovely photo @john_light !!
I’m on my way to the Agawa Canyon and National Park in northern Ontario. Since I’m up that way I’ll be doing the Soo Locks on board a boat. That takes me into America without a passport. lol. I’ve been assured I don’t need one. So if the Hive doesn’t hear from me next weekend, I’ll need a lawyer.
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Posting once again: Russ Vought is evil.
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No mention of the Jack Smith testimony today?
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We have reached the part of the story where actions have consequences. Bigger and bigger consequences. I will be hopeful because I can’t function without hope but between out of control AI and out of control POTUS I’m not optimistic. Whatever! I’m not leaving the field of battle. I have a deep commitment to staying alive.
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He’s not wavering:
“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity,” it continued. “If asked whether to prosecute a former President based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that President was a Republican or a Democrat.”
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Of course he isn’t.
This hearing is nothing more than the second round of the harassment the GQP has been promising since the last impeachment. Smith and Fauci.
To this, I say, wait until next year, fellas. Y’all will be on the hot seat to explain your inexplicable behavior.
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But of course, CBS and others will put the president’s ugly mug on the screen far more than they need to. They need to put Jack Smith on the screen and listen to what he has to say
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Heather Cox Richardson wrote today about that First Felon commercial over the weekend:
The administration clearly set out to provoke a backlash when it played what appeared to be the same ad later in the day during NFL games, Fox News Sunday, Saturday Night Live , and several college football games with the addition of the words: “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
Someone else wrote that there’s nothing to be done because he isn’t on the ballot so it isn’t a violation of campaign standards.
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I wonder about that. You don’t have to be on the ballot to be responsible for observing the terms of the Hatch Act. I think a case could be made that this ad is violating that toothless act: running an ad, during campaign season, which is (nearly?) identical to an ad he ran when he was a candidate; Trump’s calls for voters to imagine that he is on the ballot when voting this fall. More to the point, what specific budget lines were used to pay for this ad? Were any laws besides the Hatch Act violated here?
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conservative warrior
Using this term is giving these smarmy pudknockers much too much credit. They are not ‘warriors’; they are sneaky little shits abusing prosecutorial power and hiding behind the skirts of a demented, bronzer-smeared, traitorous imbecile.
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But actually he is on the ballot, just not directly. And of course, to state the obvious he is using tax payer money for political purposes to solely benefit himself and Republican candidates. My understanding is that is sort of against the law but don’t quote me on that, IANAL.
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ETA: Also not a lawyer; the President and VP can electioneer, but public funds are out. So it seems paid advertisements would be a violation.
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Nor Constitutional standards, either. Did the US House of Representatives approve that expenditure? I do not approve of taxation for this without my US Representative voting on it.
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Russ needs to be arrested and put in a supermax prison. He’s got power he should never have.
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And then that brings the question as to who would actually prosecute this, when his personal lawyer is at the head of the DOJ.
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