Originally published at: The Striking Details That Jack Smith Used To Tighten His January 6 Case Against Trump - TPM – Talking Points Memo
Special Counsel Jack Smith laid out his most detailed case yet in a filing unsealed Wednesday for why Trump can still be prosecuted in spite of the Supreme Court’s capacious immunity decision. It’s partly a dare to the Supreme Court, asking it — assuming the matter works its way up again from Judge Tanya Chutkan’s chambers…
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Me FRIST?!
(Now I’ll have to come up with something witty or constructive to post on an edit.)
Constructive:
I’ve been to Ripon Wisconsin many times when I lived and worked in Oshkosh about 25 minutes down the road.
A great site for Liz Cheney to make the altar-call for redemption and renewal.
She was totally sober in the non-alcohol sense and I think set a great tone of “Come-on-over-to-Kamala you old-Tyme-Republican-waverers” and help get us past this horrible moment in time.
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It’s lovely to read the details, so artfully chosen.
I hear in the distance the lament of a frightened man:
“I am in blood / Stepped in so far, that, should I wade no more, / Returning were as tedious as go o’er.”
Macbeth (III.4.136–8).
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The unidentified person then suggested to the staffer that there might be violence similar to the 2000 Brooks Brothers riot. The staffer allegedly replied: “Make them riot” and “Do it!!!”
Smith characterized the Brooks Brothers riot itself as a “violent effort to stop the vote count in Florida after the 2000 presidential election.” It’s a telling aside.
I will NEVER forgive Republicans – or those traitors on the Supreme Court – who wiped their smug hineys with the United States Constitution in 2000.
Hunter S Thompson:
“There was one exact moment, in fact, when I knew for sure that Al Gore would never be President of the United States, no matter what the experts were saying — and that was when the whole Bush family suddenly appeared on TV and openly scoffed at the idea of Gore winning Florida. It was Nonsense, said the Candidate, Utter nonsense. Anybody who believed Bush had lost Florida was a Fool. The Media, all of them, were Liars & Dunces or treacherous whores trying to sabotage his victory. Here was the whole bloody Family laughing & hooting & sneering at the dumbness of the whole world on National TV. The old man was the real tip-off. The leer on his face was almost frightening. It was like looking into the eyes of a tall hyena with a living sheep in its mouth. The sheep’s fate was sealed, and so was Al Gore’s.”
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Same playbook in operation for 24 but with better planning and the whole party on board. And it all started with Bush v Gore which was decided, remember, with militia violence and more Timothy McVeighs as the implicit threat. The fascism aint new and isnt only Trump, and we’re still sleepwalking in denial.
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Yes! Yes! Yes!
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From the article…
“That episode centers on Sidney Powell, the attorney who accused Hugo Chavez of stealing the election at an infamous mid-November press conference. The next day, Smith said, Trump put Powell on speakerphone during a call. He then muted it, and proceeded to call her claims “crazy” and make a “Star Trek” reference to what she was saying.”…
… … … …
Woulda been difficult for Hugo to steal much of anything from the 2020 election considering he’d been dead since 2013
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Every reason Trump is not in jail is an eloquent description of how deep the GOP are in our society at every level.
If he wins it will be because they have decided to no longer pretend.
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One of my most painful memories of 2000. I was working late in DC and headed to the Dubliner to hoist a few beers over Al Gore’s win once we heard that he had won Florida. On my way there I heard on the radio that the networks were calling that back and I knew, for sure, that the Bush’s had put the fix in for their nitwit backup son. Thanks for the HS Thompson words.
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During the speech on the Ellipse, Smith said, Trump knew that “he had only one last hope to prevent Biden’s certification as President: the large and angry crowd standing in front of him.”
It’s important to note that Chiselin’ Trump didn’t just happen to, somehow, be standing in front of this large and angry crowd. He organized the crowd and whipped it into a furor.
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Still waiting…
(Or, was that it?)
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Kamal’s speech in WI is very good. Liz’s was very good as well.
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Look, I don’t know who this Macbeth is, but are we ever going to get this Orange stain out?
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That was the beauty of it! They’d never see it coming 
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As was said by @txlawyer earlier had there not been the magic 6 on the SCOTUS and bought n paid for Judge Cannon donnie woulda been in prison a year ago
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I finally figured out why he and JD harp on his having actually won in 2020: they are demanding that we Americans recognize that votes by women and Black people should not be counted.
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The problem we have is endemic to the GOP and a lot of attorneys I know. They think the rules only apply to others - not to themselves, and the price for getting caught cheating is little more than embarrassment. Some folks are just more equal than others, and entitled to get away with a “soft sedition”. With the shenanigans the SCOTUS has pulled in the last 24 months, it is hard to argue with this perspective.
The way to convince the GOP that the rest of us are NOT naive about the law is to instantiate a system that does not tolerate fraud or faithless behaviors, in any form, when it comes to politics or to governance. Politicians should be treated as fiduciaries for our society - as long as they always deal in good faith, they can state any opinion they want and run any campaign they want. The minute they break the rules, however, is the minute they lose eligibility to ever serve or run for office. If they break the rules egregiously, they should lose their freedom, for as long as it takes to get better behavior in our system,
We are all responsible for the damage to our democracy by allowing these rule-breaking behaviors to persist with little or no accountability. These acts should not be tolerated in a process so essential to our own freedoms. Breaking the rules should result in banishment from political life and punishment serious enough to dissuade a bastard like Trump from even daring to enter the arena. Trump as a moronic corrupt real estate fraudster is an annoyance. Trump as a President is an existential threat to all of us.
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‘You are a charlatan’: Judge reams out MAGA clerk as he gives her 9-year sentence
A judge in Colorado slammed a former Mesa County clerk as he sentenced her to nine years behind bars for her scheme to interfere with election equipment on behalf of former President Donald Trump, reported 9News anchor Kyle Clark.
…
At sentencing on Thursday, Peters — who has not acknowledged any wrongdoing and maintains her innocence — sought a probation sentence, with allies speaking in her defense accusing the whole prosecution of being politically motivated. “I’m not a criminal. I have lived my life with honor and with honesty,” said Peters tearfully. “I don’t deserve to go into a prison where other people have committed heinous crimes.”
…
“Ms. Peters has remained quite defiant, which is her right, but is not helpful,” said Judge Barrett, noting that victims of her crimes are right there in the courtroom and her actions both degraded Mesa County and undermined public trust in elections. “I’m convinced you’d do it all over again … You are no hero. You are a charlatan.” He continued on, “You cared about the jets, the podcasts, and the people fawning over you. You are a charlatan and you cannot help but lie as easy as you can breathe.”
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sonsofares
“Look, I don’t know who this Macbeth is, but are we ever going to get this Orange stain out?“
Wasn’t Macbeth one of Richard Nixon’s advisors? And, tragically, some stains permanently disfigure things.
Less snarkedly, Trump regularly reminds me of various Shakespearean characters. In this case, I think Trump more closely evokes Lady Macbeth, trying to wash the stain of sedition and treason of her soiled hands.
“Here’s the smell of the blood still. All the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand.
Oh, oh, oh.”
And, then their us King Lear
“Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage, blow!
You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout
Till you have drenched our steeples, ⟨drowned⟩ the
cocks.
You sulph’rous and thought-executing fires,
Vaunt-couriers of oak-cleaving thunderbolts,
Singe my white head. And thou, all-shaking
thunder,”
Think Trump in Hurricane Helene soaked North Carolina, Kentucky or Tennessee. At least his aides kept him away from any rolls of paper towels he might playfully toss to the crowds, like loaves of bread to Roman spectators avidly awaiting the grizzly sight of Gladiators dying in the Colosseum for their entertainment. Are you not entertained?
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